Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Umbra: Part 1
Author Note The following story is a piece of Fan Fiction that encompasses elements from the Discontinued MMORPG City of Heroes, and the ever popular Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
There is a certain irony in that, since Marvel did actually lodge a law suit with Cryptic, over the game allowing players to create Marvel Heroes.
That being said this fan fiction assumes a universe where the two can coexist.
Prior to this Story The Kheldian race are considered a mythical race, however they are currently extinct, wiped out at the hands of the Nictus. The Nictus are for lack of a better term Vampire Kheldian who feed off life energy to sustain their own short life span. Kheldian were somewhat pacifists, while Nictus were considered the bane of the void. After the Kheldian race were wiped out, the Nictus started spreading to other worlds. Some of those worlds, as fate would have it, were under the protection of Asgard. During this time, Asgard was ruled by perhaps Odin s Father or Grandfather, it matters not who was king, and all that mattered was that the Nictus were spreading like a cancer throughout the stars, until the Asgardians started to battle them back into a corner.
This war was called the Great Purge . When the great purge came to an end, the Asgard forces had captured the final Nictus, and sentenced it to death. Realizing that condemning the last Nictus to death would be effectively ending the Kheldian race as well, a sympathetic Asgardian scientist intervened and smuggled the Nictus out of Asgard in a Shadow Cyst crystal. She made the Nictus promise to make the most of the new life it was going to be given and to be better than its ancestors. The Nictus in this story, is an entity that calls itself Azazeel. After an undisclosed period of time, perhaps twenty years, or maybe two thousand years, the Shadow Cyst is found, as fate would have it, by a Viking of all people. This Viking his name A'rich.
Thinking the Cyst is just a pretty form of Quartz, he keeps it on his person, until his untimely death at the end of a sword. The blood from his injury unlocking the cyst, and awakening the Nictus presence within.
Staying true to the promise it made to the Asgardian woman, instead of forcibly taking a host, he offered the dying warrior a new life, where they would share much of themselves in a symbiotic relationship. In exchange for new life, the Warrior would accept the Nictus as part of himself and together they would live normal lives.
While the warrior is somewhat intoxicated with his new found powers, the Nictus inside advises him to keep a low profile, as the Asgardians can never be alerted to their presence on Earth.
A'rich and Azazeel merge and become a single entity, taking the name Eric as the ages come and go.
In order to survive, Eric would regularly feed on the vitality of strangers, but always left them alive if he could. This in turn gave rise to the legends of vampires and other vitality draining creatures. Eric travelled throughout Europe and to the new world, America , where in the twentieth Century, feeding is even easier with the creation of night clubs and bars where it is like a meat market.
Night Clubs buzzing with people who are happy to go home with someone who's last name they don't know, and the side effects from being drained of a little vitality are very similar to the common hang-over.
So what s not to like.
The Battle of New-York
Well, when a big hole in the Sky opens up over New York, Aliens are attacking the City, you want to fight back except you can t for fear of being discovered or observed by a peeping tom Asgardian called Heimdall.
To make things worse, Thor is flying around New York swinging his hammer - Asgardian alert! Flashbacks to that day when you were almost executed.
Its best to let the Asgardians think your race is dead, if they knew that you were alive, they would swarm the earth to find and kill you.
Fate however, has other plans.
You aren't too afraid of the invasion forces in New York, because you can just teleport away from them. You just have to do it discretely that is.
E.g.: Walk down an alley way, then poof, your gone.
Well, that's what Eric intended...
He walks around the corner, then hears explosions behind him.
Turning to see what was happening, Eric looks up and sees a huge mechanical whale, crashing into a building.
The alien invaders then jumped down, into the alley that Eric was in .
Getting ready to teleport away and say See Ya... Eric then noticed that the Aliens were rounding up civilians, preparing to execute them.
Eric had two bad choices here.
1. Let the aliens kill them, and then teleport away See Ya
Or 2. Help the humans, but reveal himself...
Option 1 was very tempting, however Eric remembered that promise he made many years before.
Be better than his ancestors...
Knowing that the Guns the Aliens didn't pose much threat to Eric, he wandered over to the civilians.
While he may not have been able to understand the Aliens explicitly, the hand cues from their commanding officer giving the order to fire was pretty obvious.
Waiting just for the right moment, Eric deployed an energy shield which effectively sapped the energy projectiles from the weapons.
They just floated into the energy shield he deployed and kind of fizzled out like some dud firecracker.
Eric smiled as the Aliens looked to each other trying to figure out what happened
'Nothing personal guys'
Eric smiles as his eyes start to glow a sinister purple glow.
Eric unleashed beams of Umbral Energy from his eyes, beams of pure darkness that just drained the life from anything they touch.
Each Alien who was hit let out a terrible cry as they realized this was probably the wrong alley way to stumble into. Although, in hindsight, given that the Avengers eventually killed them all anyway it wouldn't have made much difference.
Eric however knew he made a difference, he saved a group of survivors that day.
'Get to safety!' Eric said to the Survivors, as he pushed them into one of the building exits.
Now that there was no one watching, Eric figured it was safe to teleport away.
His eyes glowing a violet colour, as he closes his eyes briefly to think about his destination. The wind around him starts to pick up as air rushes in to the vortex he was forming. Within a second, the whooshing sound ended in a Popping sound as reality itself seemed to bend and flex back into shape. Eric was now gone.
It's a year later, and Eric has not been pursued by authorities, Asgardians, Shield, military or journalists. Long story short, he figures he is safe to continue living his life in New York, after all it s a sweet place to live for a guy who needs to feed on the life force of people.
Keeping up to date with the news, Eric always feels uneasy when he sees mention of Thor . He saw him in the newspapers over in England, saving the World from Maleketh and his Dark Elves, and then again more recently in Sokovia.
Life seems fine, so why change a good thing. That's what Eric is thinking, but in the back of his mind, he knows he probably shouldn't stay in one place too long, he's been running for 700 years for a reason.
CCTV is a bitch
Meanwhile - Shield or Asgard may not know about the Nictus being on Earth, Hydra however heard the rumors of the hero alien in that alley, and got exclusive access to the Security Camera footage of the area. They have been looking for the Alien for the last 6 months. Whether they want to recruit him, dissect him and replicate his powers... only they know.
While Eric is unaware that they are looking for him, would they ever think to look for him in a Night Club?
The Return from Maveth
It s just after the events on the Planet Maveth, Coulson has just returned from the planet with his team intact. In order to take the attention of himself and distance himself from Fitz who witnessed him killing Ward in cold blood on the planet, the Director has insisted that everyone get some much needed time off. The only condition is that everyone has to stick together for their own safety.
Daisy Johnson and Lincoln Campbell, who are now a bit of an item, decide to head out to a club in New York - they drag rookie Joey Gutierrez along. It s the first time he has been out of the Cocoon, the shield training facility, since going through Transition.
Joey is still on a bit of a high from the operation they were on, he jumped in front of 3 bullets meant for Daisy, and turned them to liquid with his power - 'Hey, I m bulletproof!' He sometimes exclaims now at the end of a sentence.
Heading out with Daisy and Lincoln sounded like a good idea at the time, but he soon started to feel like a third wheel - the love birds probably thought they were doing him a favor bringing him out, but eventually after a few drinks he kind of started drifting away from the group.
In the same club, was none other than our friendly Nictus Eric. He was doing his usual - scanning the crowd looking for a snack. That s when he saw Joey, Lincoln and Daisy walking in. They were giving off weird energy that wasn't quite human. He was curious, because he had never encountered it before. Were these aliens from another planet? Extra-terrestrial refugees like himself?
He didn't want to approach Daisy and Lincoln, because well... there were two of them - but he spotted Joey standing near the bar on his own. He thought he could try and find out more about him through a classic tactic.
'Whoooopssss!' He exclaimed - as he spilled his drink over Joeys sleeve...
'Ah... crap... .. Sorry... I didn't mean to...'
Joey, a little annoyed - and kind of wanting out of the awkward situation,
'Its ok, im fine - don't worry about it...'
Joey flicking his wrist as he tries to dry his hand.
'I'm really sorry about that . Eric to Joey
'I m Eric... What are you?' - Eric says with a curious look on his face, like he is interrogating Joey.
Knowing full well that the question would probably be weird for a human to receive, but a little shocking for an alien to receive... he examined Joeys face, and Joey was not expecting the question at all...
'Ummm, what... what do you mean'... as Joey nervously tried to laugh it off.
Eric having got confirmation, that Joey was basically not human, let him laugh it off, and replied 'I mean your star sign' - I'm a Cancer'
'Oh... Right...ha, thought you meant... actually I don t know what I thought you meant...'
'Well... what are you?' - Eric asking again.
'I m a Sagittarius... but you don't really believe in that stuff do you?'
'You'd be surprised...' Eric smiles, he wonders which of them should come out about being an alien first.
Joey suddenly thinking about how he s an Inhuman now, because of 'stuff from the stars' had to smile a little at that...
'I guess your right...'
'So... You know my name, my star-sign, I know your star-sign, and do I get a name to go with?'
Joey, now realizing this is a cheesy pickup line, winches a little in discomfort as he reluctantly relinquishes his name. He hates cheesy pickup lines, unless he is the one delivering them.
'Joey... nice to meet you Eric...'
'You too... so are you here alone?..'
'Sorry, I have to go...' Joey interrupts - he makes a hasty exit.
It s not that Joey doesn't like Eric or anything, its just that how does he even contemplate getting close to a guy while he works for Shield, and oh yes the big one by the way - 'I'm not entirely human'... Joey completely forgetting Coulsons orders, and in a bit of a drunken, depressed haze leaves through the back exit that leads to the back alley.
Joey walks down a dark alley - kicking himself for not giving Eric a chance, but reassures himself that there will be 'other Eric's'
'Hey! You dropped your phone...'
'What?... ' Joey spins around.
Joey checks his pocket, and realizes that his phone is never out of his pocket - he turns around and sees Eric with his phone in his hand, running down the alley to return it...
'You left this in the bar...'
'No... I didn't... Its my er... Work phone... I never take it out of my pocket...' - he states this quite strongly, since it really is his Shield cell phone - he NEVER takes it out of his pocket unless it s an emergency.
Eric suddenly realizing that teleporting his phone out of his pocket might have been the wrong approach this time...
'Er.. whatever... im just returning it...' Eric says nervously...
'Who do you work for?' says Joey 'Hydra... Shield?...' Joey now interrogating Eric
'What... what are you talking about ... look, I just returned your phone... your nuts!' Eric tries to turn around and leave but notices a group of what appear to be Thugs blocking the end of the Alley.
Turning around and looking at the end of the alley past Joey, he notices that this end is blocked too...
Initially - Joey and Eric look at each other thinking the other is responsible or associated with the group of people approaching...
'Friends of yours?'
Asks Joey...
'No... I was going to ask the same... they kinda have that butch thuggish look that I assumed you might go for...'
'We are surrounded by a gang of strange angry people... and your cracking jokes...' - exclaims Joey as he secretly pushes a panic button on his Phone, which was conveniently still in his hand...
'So... these people really aren't friends of yours...' -Eric suddenly realizing that Joey is actually scared here.
'Not so much' Joey to Eric
'Ah... ok...' Eric says hesitantly
'Stand close...'
'So look what we found...
This is the one the Boss has been looking for... and looks like we caught a bonus prize too.' Says one of the thugs.
Joey immediately thinks the thug is talking about him, since he is Shield and an Inhuman - he would be a high value target.
Of course... Eric can't help but be a little paranoid... are they talking about him?
'If you come quietly, then we promise not to hurt you too much... and the other guy might survive too...'
'If you dont...'
As soon as he says 'If you don't...' Erics eyes start glowing purple, and a gush of Wind rushes into the Alley. Eric turns around and grabs Joey before both of them disappear in a 'Pop'. Leaving only a faint smell of Ozone where they once where...
'Ah crap...
Boss didn t say they could teleport.' The thugs try to assign blame
Joey and Eric - now in Central park on the other side of town away from the gang emerge from the teleport, a little dazed...
'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT...'
'YOU... YOUR... ARE YOU AN INHUMAN?'
Not knowing what an Inhuman is... Eric kinda looks puzzled, as well as drained...
Panting from the exertion of teleporting himself and someone else...
'Just getting my breath here... Inhuman wha? Whats an Inhuman?'
Joey realizing that this guy might just be someone who went through Transition, but never made it onto their radar suddenly tries to do the compassionate and understanding talk that Daisy or Lincoln usually deliver.
'Look... I know what you re going through... I've been there... I went through it too...'
'I'm just going to sit down here...' Eric, looking dizzy from the teleport.
It obviously took more out of him than he thought it would.
'Wait... are you ok?' Joey noticing Eric looking dizzy
'Ah.. you know... happens all the time... just bit tired...' - Eric had gone out to the club to find a snack to feed on.
The night's escapades had interrupted his routine.
He basically teleported on an empty stomach and really needs to find someone to feed on.
Realizing that he had pushed the panic button on his Phone prior to the Teleport, he knew that Shield was going to be making an appearance any moment now in Central Park.
'Look, I need you to come with me... You will be safe', Joey tries to reassure Eric
'Sorry mate... but your mixed up in some business I don't want any part of...' Eric tries to get up and leave...
'JOEY!' - Exclaims Daisy and Lincoln as they run towards the two...
Daisy and Lincoln both carrying I.C.E.R guns...
'Daisy, its ok... put the Gun away... he s an Inhuman...'
'He is?' Lincoln to the group.
Lincoln looking at Eric with suspicion.
'Look I don't know what you guys are on about... I'm not an inhuman... I just need to get out of here...'
'Sorry, but you can't go...' says Daisy.
Daisy knows full well that anyone with powers needs to be registered on the Shield Index.
'Watch me...' Eric says, he really doesn't want to go with these guys.
Eric tries to teleport, managing to manifest a few globes of Umbral energy... but his energy depleted by the teleport.
'Whoa... Why is the sky moving...' - dizzy from the attempt.
Eric passes out...
Nictus in a Strange Place
Coming in and out of consciousness Eric catches a few conversations of strangers around him...
'I dunno who they were, I thought they were after me... cause im an Inhuman... but I guess they could have been after him...' - Joey
'Do you realize the chances of another Inhuman walking up to you in a bar are virtually non-existent... he must be working for someone...' - May says suspiciously.
'All I know is that he could have teleported himself out of there and left me to those goons, but he took me with him... I'd be on a Hydra operating table somewhere...' Joey seems grateful
As consciousness draws closer, Eric becomes aware of a pain in his arm. A drip that is keeping him hydrated... he starts to open his eyes, and he sees that he is in a white room, with a glass pane in front of him...
Daisy and a man are on the other side of the glass.
'Where am I... Eric tries to speak, but needs water...
'There s water just to your left' Daisy points the water out to him.
Taking a sip...
'Where am I, what am I doing here...'
'I know you have questions, but so do we... '- Coulson through the glass
'I don't care about your questions, I want out of here!' Eric panicking
Visibly panicked by scared by the helplessness he is feeling.
It s been so long since he had been incarcerated by Asgardians, and he hasn't enough energy to teleport...
'What do you want from me...?
My name is Director Coulson, you're with Shield Coulson identifies himself
Eric looking around the white room, somehow hearing that hes with Shield is not any more comforting than hearing he is with Hydra.
'Who are you, and when did you go through the transformation...' Coulson to Eric
'What transformation...' Eric doesn t have a clue what he s talking about.
'When you got your powers...' Daisy tries to translate
'I don't have any powers...' Eric knows it's a long shot, given he did teleport one and half times in front of them.
Coulson and Daisy getting a little frustrated - 'I saw you use your powers, when you tried to teleport away, but couldn't quite make it...' Daisy tries the compassionate tone of voice.
'Joey says you teleported both of you away when those guys attacked...'
'Big mistake...' - Eric retorts
'Carrying someone else takes more out of me...'
'So you do have powers' - Coulson
'See, we are making so much progress...'
'I still don't know what you mean by transformation... I never went through a transformation...'
May enters the room through a side door, she hands a note to Coulson.
'Daisy, can you join me for a moment...'
Daisy and Coulson leave the room, and join the rest of the gang...
'Hes not an inhuman...' Simmons says to the Gang
'But he has powers...' Joey still new to the Shield thing, assuming that everyone with Powers is an Inhuman.
As we have seen in the past, that is not a condition specific to just 'Inhumans'. Simmons says to the group.
'Then what is he?' - Lincoln asks.
'Best I can tell, he is human, but there is a strange energy permeating his body' explains Simmons '... but it looks like the energy is breaking down...' interjects Fitz.
'So when the energy breaks down, he will go back to being a regular human? Job done?' states Mack - who's naturally distrustful of anyone with powers.
'Afraid not... It seems that the weaker this energy gets, the weaker his vitals get... I'd guess that he doesn't have much time left...' - Simmons states in a sad tone.
'Is there anything that we can do for him?' asks Joey...
'I mean, he s not the bad guy here'
'Without more data, I wouldn't know where to start...' - Simmons sighs
'Let me talk to him... He likes me... I think...' - Joey
'You re not cleared for interrogations... Mac to Joey in a stern voice
'Is that what this is, an Interrogation...' - Lincoln, who is tired of Mac's Anti-Inhuman attitude...
'What do you care Sparky, he isn t an Inhuman...' - Mac
'Daisy! You take lead, and take Joey with you... try to find out who or what he is...
If there are others like him, we need to know...' - Coulson dispenses the orders...
'... and Joey... Next time I give an order to stay with Daisy and Lincoln... do as I say...' - Coulson says in a harsh tone...
As Joey and Daisy enter the room, they find Eric walking around the containment module - still weak, using his hand to steady himself on the walls as he paces the room.
'You again...' - says Eric... Feeling betrayed by Joey...
'Look I'm sorry, you passed out and I thought they could help...they're trying to help...' - Joey says nervously
'...and look how well that's gone so far, I'm in a cage, at Shield...Tell them to let me out of here...' - Eric says coldly..
'They say you're getting weaker... you won t survive if they can't fix you up...' Joey starts...
'I will be fine if I can get out of here...' - Eric states, knowing full well that he can't explain to them that he needs to go and feed on a human.
'Look... in the Bar, you wanted to know about me...' - Joey, trying to gain his trust..
'I will tell you about me, if you tell me about you...Sound fair?'
Eric glances at the floor, knowing he has no other chance to take...
'Fine...
So you re not entirely human...' Eric launches the first question, hoping to take the attention off him for a moment.
Joey tries to lighten the mood with a little joke
'Ah... going straight for the tough one... sure you don t want favourite colour or something?'
A bemused Eric tilts his head to the side 'Well... if you don't want tell me I guess...'
'Oh ok just wait a sec...'
'It was a few months ago - I was a normal guy, popped open a can of Fish Oil tablets - that stuff is meant to be healthy for you, but as it turns out - some of it has the side effect of turning you into an 'Inhuman'.
Daisy cuts in - ' What Joey means, is that there is a small percentage of the population who have a latent Alien Gene, which is activated by the Fish Oil...The process of transformation is called Terigenesis, we initially thought you had gone through the process...'
'I didn't...' Eric says staring at the wall... Not sure if this helps his case or not...
'And you... How did you get your powers? Daisy asks.
'I don't think you will like the answer...' - Eric responds... knowing the reaction that Aliens have attracted since the battle of New York.
'Well... I m kind of... sort of... half-alien...but my better half is Human' - he tries to end the statement in a humorous tone...
'Where are you from?' Joey asks...
'Half of me is from... Norway... 700 years ago...'
Daisy - 'and the other half...'
Joey ' Wait... can we get back to the bit where your 700 years old?...'
'I moisturize...' - Eric chuckles.
Joey can't help but smile, but also feel a little freaked out...
'My question - Where is the other part of you from...' - Daisy returns to the question...
Not wanting to say the word Nictus, in case there are Asgardians nearby, Eric tries to come up with an explanation that will result in the least amount of counter-questions.
'I'm not sure, I don't have much memory of my time before Earth...
I was dying 700 years ago, and the Alien energy bonded with me and saved my life...' Eric says quickly, trying to move on.
'Wait... so you were fully human once, and the alien went inside you...' - Daisy
'Yeah, but hes part of me now, we are inseparable - I just think of him as me, and he does the same.
We don't even talk to each other, it s just me.
We don't share this body, we are just the same being...' - Explains Eric inadequately.
Coulson and May observe the interview.
'Has Shield ever seen an alien like this before?' May asks.
'If we have - Fury didn t include it in the toolbox he left me...'
The Shield team assemble in the briefing room, as Coulson addresses them on the Eric situation.
If there is an alien threat out there that can possess the bodies of humans I need to know about it...
Unfortunately there is only one other Alien who we can ask for advice on this matter... Coulson elaborates on his plan
'Please don't say it...' Daisy mutters...
'Elliot Randolph' - Coulson finishes nodding to Daisy.
'Who s Elliot Randolph...' asks Joey...
'He s an Asgardian...but less impressive than Thor... kind of pathetic really...' - Hunter in his usual sarcastic self.
Nictus, meet Asgardian
'ABSOLUTELY NOT...'
'We had an understanding that after I helped Shield with the Portal... you wouldn't call on me again...' - Randolph exclaims...
'What can I say, you're living in America, and you should serve your country...' - Coulson says smugly
'We just want to know if you have seen an alien like this before...' Coulson trying to minimize the impact to Randolph's obviously non-existent schedule.
'I guess I am going to have to go with you to your secret base and see this 4 armed monstrosity or something...You know, I never know if the next time I go into that base, if it will be my last...' Randolph jokes.
'Don't worry, the Alien is not as ... Alien as that...'
'From what we can tell, it s an energy based lifeform that is living inside a Human...'
'I sincerely doubt that... Energy based lifeforms are fairly rare in the Cosmos, and the majority of them are extinct... but do try again, I do so enjoy a story...' Randolph unconvinced that it is an Energy based Life-form
'Fine... the creature that is not an energy based life form is in our containment module at our base, it says he merged with his host 700 years ago, he has the power to teleport, possibly other abilities too... and thus far has been unwilling or unable to tell us more...' Coulson emphasizing the not an energy based life form bit.
'You say he can teleport?' - Elliot intrigued...
'Yeah, he apparently manifests purple glowing balls of light, which then Whoosh him away to a far exotic destination...' Coulson says, almost wishing he could teleport right now.
'...how did you catch it...' - asks Elliot 'He passed out, he teleported himself and one of my agents and apparently taking him along for the ride tired him out too much to get away...' - Coulson explains...
'I need to see it now...' - Elliot thinking that he knows what it is.
Back at the base, Joey and Eric are still chatting...
'You know, once I went into a bar, and a guy in his 60's tried chatting me up, I mean, age is just a number... but 700...'
'Oh come off it, you were secretly loving every minute of it... until you high-tailed it out of there...' - Eric retorts.
'Why did you leave anyway...' Eric asks.
'Wait... did you teleport my phone out of my pocket back at the club...' Joey tries to side-step the question.
'Maybe... but your avoiding the question , thought we had a deal - I Tell you more about me, if you tell me about you...' - Eric returns the conversation to the aforementioned question
Daisy is now out of the room, but still observing, not that Joey knows - he feels somewhat comfortable to share with Eric.
'I guess... ever since I changed, into an Inhuman... it just feels like it s that extra bit hard to find 'someone', I mean, I thought you were just a run of the mill guy in the bar. How would you have reacted if I told you I had a little alien DNA inside me...? Oh dear... I just realized how bad that sounded...' Joey cringes at what he just said.
Eric - trying not to smile...
'Well, remembering that im over 700 here, I'd probably have been alright with that... cradle snatcher an all...'
Eric smiles a little Joey now actually visibly smiling and enjoying the conversation.
Daisy and Lincoln are now in the control room, watching the feed and suddenly realize how lucky they were that they had each other and shared so much in common.
Realizing that Joey had been putting a brave face on and trying to throw himself into his Shield training to take his mind off the fact that he has no personal life to speak of, he had to cut ties with his family and friends when he transformed into an inhuman.
Coulson and Elliot Randolph enter the observation room where Daisy is observing the interview.
'And you think this might be a NICTUS?' - Coulson asks Elliot
'It s unlikely, but you are describing a NICTUS...
They were parasitic life forms that fed on the life energy of other life forms in the galaxy until the Asgardians wiped them out several thousand years ago...'
'The terrible Irony is that they were once a beautiful Energy based life form called 'Kheldians' - who glowed like the sun.
Elliot explains using his Hands to gesture the glow of the sun.
However they had a very short life span, which led to a philosophical divide...' His voice goes stern.
'You see... one group of Kheldian, wanted to extend their life, and to do so, they experimented upon themselves, turning themselves from Symbiotic lifeforms, into parasitic life forms...'
I assume they succeeded...' asks Coulson...
'Oh yes...unfortunately for the Kheldians...'
'Now able to survive for thousands of years, the NICTUS as they called themselves, had to drain the life force of their Kheldian brothers to survive. An entire species extinct... Poof! 'When the Kheldian's were gone, the Nictus turned their attention to the worlds that were under Asgards protection... And that's when the Asgardians performed a purge...' Elliot sounding a little solemn.
'A purge... - Daisy asks.
'Well... when one species threatens the safety of many species on many worlds, it s sometimes necessary to break a few eggs...' Elliot says cavalierly
The tone in the room is somewhat dark...
'BUT Anyway... I know an easy way to tell if it's a Nictus or not... May I speak with it...' - Elliot jests...
'Alright... but I am going to sit in...' - Coulson . . . .
Coulson walks into the interrogation room, and asks Joey to step outside...
As Joey is leaving... Elliot walks in...
Eric not knowing what is going on...
Elliot sits down at the interrogation desk, and speaks through the glass to Eric.
Elliot smiles and leans forward towards the glass
'IM AN ASGARDIAN, ARE YOU A NICTUS...' He says with a terrifying grin on his face.
'Erics face turns pale, and he jumps out of his chair, and runs to the other side of the room.
'Please... no, get him away...
You said you were gonna help!' Eric screams to Joey, who just fed him to the Lions so to speak
Disturbed at the reaction Eric had towards Elliot, Coulson walks Elliot out of the room.
Elliot as he exits the room states
'My work here is done... But I would recommend you kill it ASAP, or better yet, get Thor or someone else to do it for you...'
Eric hearing the comment has a look of a dead man walking on his face. He slumps down into the corner of the room, away from the glass.
Coulson enters the main observation room, Elliot is escorted off base and returned to his life.
'What the hell was that!' - Joey shouts...
'I'm sorry, but we needed to know...' - Coulson
'Know what... that he's terrified of Asgardians...' - Lincoln.
'We know that hes a member of a race that is responsible for the genocide of many other races...' Coulson standing firm on the issue
'Are we really going to judge him based on something the rest of his people may or may not have done thousands of years ago...' - Daisy.
'We needed to know what he was, and he wasn't giving us any other option...' - Coulson
'I hate to interrupt, but this does help a little, we now know why he's dying...' - Simmons
'We do?' - Joey
'He s starving... He most likely needs to feed on life force' - Fitz continues on.
'I fail to see how that helps...' - May exclaims, knowing we will not be feeding any humans to him.
Joey leaves the room, and returns to the interrogation room.
'Is it true...?' - are you a Nictus?
Eric stands up, walks closer to the glass to see Joeys face.
'So what if it is...' - Eric says coldly.
'Did you do what they say you Joey starts.
'NO... Let me stop you there... no one said I did anything... they are just blaming me for things my people did... I didn't do anything!' - Eric shouts, vehement that he has committed no crime other than being born Nictus.
'I thought you didn't remember much about time before Earth...' - Joey says painfully - like he just realized he was being lied to.
Eric sits down again, holding his head in his hands, and starts to speak...
'You know the Asgard probably tell tales of the noble Nictus Hunt's they did. About how it was a tradition, and a service to cull the terrible Nictus... lest they crawl into your home and devour your children...'
'All I remember from the Nictus hunts was seeing my people being vaporized, or trapped in containment cells for dissection or experimentation later...'
'I remember them saying that I was the last of my kind... and that I was gonna be joining my people in the void that morning...'
They had me in a containment cell - no larger than a shoebox. Eric remembering his time on Asgard.
'they used to come up to it, poke the force field or shake the cell with me in it. Like I was some insect trapped in a bottle.'
'I was a trophy of the hunt, a valuable prize no doubt, since the rest of my kind were dead.' Eric says quietly.
'...' - Joey quiet now, suddenly realizing how terrible it was from his point of view.
'...' The people in the control room, observing the feed...
'I was due to be killed and some Asgardian took pity, and let me go. She offered me escape in a Shadow Cyst...
Joey squints when he hears Shadow Cyst Not knowing what it is.
They are these crystals that our kind can put our essence into.' Eric explains 'In order for me to stow-away in the cyst, I needed to let my previous host die. We don t bond with hosts for the fun of it. When we bond, we intend for it to be for life So when I had to escape, it cost too much I had to let part of me die..'
'But I knew, if I let them kill me that morning, then both of us would have died, and this way, part of him would live on...'
'I never knew her name, but the Asgardian woman, she was a scientist and she said she believed that I wasn't guilty for the crimes of my species, and that should would get me to safety if I made her one promise.'
'What promise' - Joey asked.
'Just be better than my ancestors...' - Eric said solemnly.
Eric looks around at his room again, Surprisingly, it s not that hard given my Ancestors conquered planets and drove entire species to extinction . Eric trying to joke, his face is wet from wiping his eyes.
I tried really hard to stay off the grid, I kept moving all over the world, never staying in one place for too long. Eric to Joey
'But don't you need to feed on people...' asked Joey.
'I go to that night-club because it s usually easy to go home with someone, I feed a little on them, but they always recover and they just attribute the next day to a hang-over.'
'So you don't need to kill anyone to feed?' - asks Joey, feeling a little optimistic.
'No... My people used to devour someone s entire life force, they gave into their baser instincts, but they never had to take life in order to live...'
'I just fed a little on people, once or twice a week - taking small amounts, instead of a whole life.'
Joey gets up and leaves the room.
Can I keep him?
'I wana feed him...' - Joey to the rest of the room.
'You re not talking about feeding a cat here, you don't know what sort of effect it might have, you might get grey hair or something ' Hunter, seemingly making a random reference to Rogue from the X-Men movie.
'And after today, what about next week, or the week after that... You seriously think you can feed him long term?' - rationalizes May.
'He s not a threat... you heard him... he s the last of his kind and if we don't let him out, he will die...' Joey emphasizing the options
'we can't let him out, I say we let nature run its course...' Mack, who cares little for aliens.
'That's cruel and obscene, you really want to sit back and watch him starve to death?' - Daisy to Mack (outraged at the sheer wrongness of Mack s suggestion)
Enough! - Coulson to the room 'We will make a decision on this tomorrow, Fitz-Simmons assures me they can make him comfortable in the meantime, and he isn't in any immediate danger...'
The room looks around, and Simmons raises her voice above the silence.
'We should have a day or two before him ... ummmm you know...' - Simmons begins...
'Dies?' Joey finishes coldly.
That night while everyone is sleeping, Joey visits Daisy - who for once is not spending time with Lincoln.
It seems that Lincoln being on the fence about Eric boils down to the fact that he turned out to not be an Inhuman...
'He said that?' - Joey asks
'Yeah, basically, he s not from Earth, he's an Alien, he's dangerous, he's not Inhuman, he's not our problem...' - Daisy recites the reasons Lincoln gave for being on the fence...
'I need your help, I need to get in there and get him out...' - Joey asks.
'You realize you could lose any chance of being an agent if you do this...' - Daisy states
'What about you...?' - Joey asks.
Hmmm... Coulson never stays wrong at me for long, and to be honest, as long as you have the moral high ground he s usually a kitten...'
Later that morning - around 3am, the security systems go offline, and the doors around the containment room unlock.
Joey enters the room, Eric wakes up and recoils - thinking it s his execution.
'Look, you saved me when you didn't have to, I'm returning the favor...'
Just as he says that, the containment door seals again, and the base security goes back online.
It seems that Coulson expected something like this...
'Joey - its Coulson, stand down and step away from Eric...'
'Are you going to get in trouble for this?' Asks Eric.
'Please... who could stay mad at this face...' - Joey jokes.
'So... do you need to do a run and jump or something to get that teleport thing working, or ...'
'I can't teleport without feeding... Otherwise..'
'Ah yes... you would have teleported yesterday... and made this whole rescue redundant...'
'So it s a rescue...' - Eric Smirks.
'It was... until we got trapped in here...'
Joey turns to Eric, and asks, 'Can you teleport if you feed on me...'
'I can but...'
'Is this going to hurt...' Joey asks..
'To be honest, you might actually enjoy it...' reassures Eric.
Just as the doors to the containment module open and Mack, May and Hunter come with I.C.E.R.S drawn.
Eric steps closer to Joey, and Kisses him while holding on to him. A bright purple light shines from their position.
'Open fire, I.C.E.R.S only...' - shouts MAY.
The I.C.E.R fire is deflected as if bouncing off an invisible wall.
A moment later the tell-tale Pop sound occurs, sucking much of the loose items in the module towards the center in a whoosh of wind.
Joey and Eric are gone.
May, Hunter and Mack turn and look at one another -
'Coulson, they re gone...' May says over the radio
Coulson is now debriefing or shouting at Daisy, or possibly a combination of both...
'Daisy God-Dammit! I told you we would make a decision tomorrow!' - shouts Coulson, scolding Daisy.
'Do you hear yourself... you were going to 'decide' if someone should be left to starve to death tomorrow...' responds Daisy.
'I hear you Daisy, but Shield is not your private humanitarian charity... we don't know anything about the long term effects that you might have just subjected Joey to...'
'How do we know he is even alive!' Daisy looks at the ground, her face scrunched up in annoyance.
She knows she was right... but to a lesser degree, so is Coulson..
'Your right... I don't know where Joey is now, but I know Eric wasn't lying... you just had to listen to him to know he was telling the truth...'
'He was genuinely scared and ...'
'...and what...' interrupts Coulson...
'Well... to be totally honest, I think he and Joey kind of like each other...' - she tries to say innocently
'...Daisy... just go find Joey... track his phone or whatever...' - Coulson doesn t have time for tales of romance.
Sometime later, elsewhere in the world...
A weakened Joey Gutierrez lye's on a bed fully dressed, having been unconscious for the last day...
'Grrrrr... ' he moans... as if hung over He rolls over opening his eyes half expecting to be lying beside someone...
Remembering being locked in the containment module with Eric, and remembering teleporting away with him - he suddenly realizes he basically just ran away from Shield, and disobeyed orders directly from Coulson...
'Ohhhh Sh...' he exclaims
Joey looks around the room he is in, finds a towel and fresh clothes left out for him. The room he is in has an en-suite with a shower that was just begging to be used.
Figuring that he could probably use a shower, and who knows it might help him get over the hangover thing he has...
'That kiss... he whispers...' - with a small smile.
'Packed a punch...' he smirks
As Joey gets up to move towards the bathroom, he notices the Window and he doesn't recognize the architecture as being typical NYC. On closer examination he sees people cycling, lots of people carrying bread-sticks and very old style churches nearby. In the distance he can see the Eiffel Tower...
'Im in France...' he exclaims.
Eric teleports into the main room of the Apartment with a whooshing sound, he is normally allot more stealthy - but he doesn't quite have the Apartment mapped out - so he occasionally bumps his legs into the coffee table in the center of the room.
'Ouch!' - He exclaims... trying to say it as quietly as possible..
He tries to keep the noise down, almost like a school kid sneaking back into the house after being late home from curfew.
He hears the shower on, and realises Joey is awake.
'Ooooh kay...' he says, nervously
'This is going to be awkward...' he mumbles to himself...
He starts to cook a fry using the groceries he just arrived back with...
99% of the time the smell of bacon lures everyone out of the bedroom... Except the Vegetarians...
Joey just finishing up in the bathroom smells the scent of food from outside of the Bedroom, realizing that Eric must be back he turns the Shower off...
'Crap...' he suddenly realizes that now Eric now knows he s awake...
Joey gets dressed.
Knowing there is no point in dragging it out any longer, Joey steps uneasily out into the what appears to be the open plan kitchen of the apartment...
'This your place?' he asks nervously...
'Ha... I wish...' - Eric smirked
'Just borrowing it, these town houses are empty during the off season...'
Figured it would be a good place to er... cook you breakfast...'
Eric suddenly realising how 'break and entering' that sounds... - He cringes for a moment...
'How long was I...you know...'
'Out cold? About a day...' - says Eric, biting his lip innocently...
'Sorry...' Eric says cringing
'I need to call Shield...let them know I m safe...' - Joey yawns... still obviously drained.
'Have some food first, get your energy back... I'd feel bit bad if they thought I was starving you...' - Eric says sarcastically
'You know... given they were starving me, and you kissed me...'
'YOU KISSED ME...' exclaimed Joey...
'You offered to let me feed...' Smirked Eric...
'That's how you feed?...'
'Well not exactly... but what did you expect... fangs in the neck?'
'I'm not a vampire' - laughs Eric...
'Besides... didn't hear you complaining...' - Eric smiles at Joey, offering him a plate with Crisp Bacon, Sausage, and Egg wrapped in a bread roll.
'I suppose Shield will be more forgiving if I m fed...' - jokes Joey, reluctantly taking the plate of food.
'Oh... I won't be going back to Shield... I just wanted to make sure you were safe and well before I left...' - says Eric.
'If I go back to Shield, they will kill me, or hand me over to the Asgardians...'
Eric explains
'You don't know that...' - Joey tries to explain.
'Coulson might have come around...'
'He s just a bit paranoid when it comes to extra-terrestrial stuff...'
'He might have let you go, I mean... you wouldn't be the only alien living on earth...' - Joey referring to Elliot
'Yeah, just on that... who was the Asgardian...' - Eric asks crossly.
'I don t know, I just joined Shield, apparently he s an Asgardian who has lived on Earth for hundreds of years...'
'From what I have heard, he wants to stay off the grid from Asgard too... Coulson likes to use that to black mail him from what I've seen...'
'Wow...there s me thinking Earth was a safe retreat from Asgard... and there was an Asgardian here all along...' Eric says coldly...
'Was all that true, what you said... about what they did to you and your people? ' asks Joey.
'Did you think I made that up because I was weak and dying...' asks Eric almost cavalierly.
'No... its just...' Joey sincerely
'It sounded pretty bad...'
'It was worse...' says Eric 'But nothing that they didn't deserve I guess...'
'You don't mean that...' says Joey.
'Don't I...' says Eric.
'I basically inherited every bad deed that my Ancestors did...
They wiped out the Kheldians before I was born, and by the time I was born the Asgard had already started exterminating us...'
'I didn't know why these people were coming to our Worlds killing us, I thought they were our worlds, I didn't realize that we took them from other people...'
'... not to change the subject or anything...' - Joey Starts.
'Why did you come and talk to me in the club...' Joey trying to make the conversation happier
'I had never seen someone like you before...'
'Like me?' - asks Joey, possibly blushing a little.
Smiling, Eric explains...
'I can see the aura of people... and yours is a little different from everyone else s... guess it s because you're an...' Eric starts..
'Inhuman?' - finishes Joey...
'Yeah, that... so what exactly is an Inhuman... So far I haven t seen anything particularly inhuman about you.'
'Now smiling, because he gets to show off his "Awesome NEW Superpower..."'
Well... see this Fork... 'He says as he holds a Fork in his hand...'
'Wait... are you going to bend a fork? ' - Eric says, unimpressed
'Couldn t Uri Geller do that too? ' He laughs
Realising that a Fork was probably a little unimpressive...
Joey looks around for something a little bigger...
'Ok, see that frying pan...'
Joey winches his face and concentrates on the Frying Pan, and before long it starts to bubble and curl.
Eric looks on in surprise...
'You can bend Kitchen Utensils...' he says seriously looking at Joey.
Both of them try to keep a straight face but can't help but burst out laughing.
'NOT FUNNY...' Joey exclaims
'Thats my super power...' Joey says all self-conscious.
'No.. its amazing' Eric laughs... 'it s not that...'
'Well what is it...' Joey wanting to know why hes laughing
'That's not my Frying Pan...' - Laughs Eric
Daisy and co are still searching for Joey and Eric,
They have been up for a whole day searching all known places Joey and Eric have been spotted.
'Coulson! We have something...' - Daisy calls out
'Good news only Daisy...' Coulson says sternly
'Sorry Sir...' Daisy not sure this qualifies.
'I was going through the Camera footage for the Alley where that gang of thugs tried to attack Joey, and I found something interesting...'
'See that guy there...' pointing to the screen, at one of the gang...
'Hes been going to that Club for the last 6 weeks, and he always has his eyes on Eric...' If I didnt know better, I'd say he was a tail.
'They werent after Joey that night... they were after Eric all along...'
- Coulson says as pieces suddenly click together.
'I figure that these guys have been tracking Eric longer than we have, so they would probably have an idea where he is...'
'And?' - asks Coulson
'This guy, was recorded getting a private jet to France 5 hours ago, he lands in 3 hours... and the Ticket was bought by a Subsidiary of our favourite millionaire Philanthropist of the month... Gideon Malik...'
'Hydra's last remaining head.'
'I don't think this guy is going for the culture...' Daisy joking as she makes the Slam Dunk
'You, Lincoln, Mack and May - go and bring Joey back...'
And Eric...?' asks Daisy
'Make him see that it is in his best interest to come back with us...He can come back with us, or end up on a Hydra operating table...'
To France and Back
'I didn't want them to trace your phone and find you all passed out and stuff...' - shouts Eric
'They d be like "What have you done to our JOEY! BOOM BOOM BOOM' : as Eric does an impression of Mack shooting him.
'So you dumped my phone in the Atlantic...' 'its Shield tech, it s probably waterproof, they probably think I m at the bottom of the ocean now...'
Joey scoffs in unbelief
'Oh...'
'well, if you re feeling better now, I guess you could use this one... I bought you a prepaid...'
Joey finding it hard to stay cross at Eric takes the phone off him, and starts dialing Daisy...
'I've literally just started working for Shield, and already lost my company phone...I am so getting in trouble for this...' - Says Joey, only half joking...
He connects to Daisy over the phone and begins to talk.
"Daisy!"
"I'm fine, yeah you can come and get me..."
"I'm in France as it turns out...
'Wait... Hydra?..."
"Where am I supposed to go?"
While Joey speaks on the phone, Eric lifts his bag, preparing to teleport out of the place thinking that Shield are going to take him again.
Just then - a Knock on the door.
"Eric! Get away from the door..." says Joey.
"Can you get us out of here..." Joey to Eric
'Think so..' - Asks Eric 'What's going on...' Eric shouts
'Hydra know where we are... we need to get out of here...'
'Where to!' Asks Eric
'Always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower...' smirks Joey
Eric takes Joeys hand and the familiar whooshing of air can be heard.
A purple light shines under the front door, as Hydra goons break down the door to find an empty Apartment with nothing save the smell of a recently cooked bacon and ozone...
Eric and Joey both arrive at the base of the Eiffel Tower, it was only about 300-400 meters away, the teleport was just the easiest way to get past the Hydra goons.
"... we are both at the entrance... where are you..." Joey to Daisy
'Joey, we are still 10 minutes out... get to the top of the Tower, put as much distance between Hydra and you" Daisy as she is flying in on the Quinn Jet
Joey and Eric stand in-front of the Eiffel Tower, it is still morning time and the Tower is not yet open for tours until the afternoon.
'Up we go...' - says Joey
'Can we take the elevator...' asks Eric...
'No... Daisy says if we get stuck in the elevator then we are done for...'
'I have an express elevator they can t stop...' Eric smiles as he takes Joeys hand.
The familiar whooshing with a high pitched pop.
Arriving at the top... Joey can't help but ask...
'I thought that teleporting both of us took a lot of out you...'
'It does... but I got a good boost from that kiss...' - Smiling... despite the danger they are in.
'You kissed me...' - Retorts Joey
'Didn t hear you complaining...'
'I was unconscious...' says Joey.
'...but yeah... it was a pretty good kiss...' Joey says under his breath... Eric smiles, having heard his comment.
'Joey... what now...' - asks Eric, suddenly realizing Shield are coming...
'What do you mean?' Shield come and rescue us from Hydra...' responds Joey
'I just escaped from Shield...if I go back they will...'
'If you don't, then Hydra will dissect you when they get you... and from what Daisy told me, they have been watching you for weeks, maybe months...' - explains Joey
'Look, I'm asking you to trust me...'
'I realise Shield hasn't exactly given you the best accommodation last time you stayed with them... but this time things will be different...'
'Different?' asks Eric, obviously apprehensive about putting his trust in anyone else...
'I'm going to be there...I won't let them hurt you'
Eric looks at Joey, feeling something he hasn't felt in a long time.
Before meeting Joey he had become accustomed to his loneliness, but the last 36 hours had been the most frightening and at the same time best that he has had in as long as he can remember...'
Eric reaches over to Joey... obviously moving in for a kiss...
'Ummm no... I don't wana...' Joey tries to protest.
Before Joey can finish his protest the two kiss...
Joey opens his eyes, wondering why he isnt losing consciousness...
'I didn t pass out...' - Joey thinking that Eric was going to feed on him again...
'No... you didnt...' Eric smiles
'I am capable of delivering a kiss without sucking the life force out of people...' - Eric rolls his eyes
Joey smiles at Eric, but notices the door to the stairwell opens.
A man, tall, shaved head with tattoos across his neck emerges...
He has a handgun in one hand, he is followed by 3 other goons.
'Get down...' Joey whispers to Eric...
They both get down and try to take cover
'You get down... what are you going to do, bend Cutlery at them?' Eric retorts still not buying into joeys 'Bullet Proof' ability.
'And what are you going to do... teleport them to a hot exotic location...'? - Joey exclaims... but suddenly realizes that anywhere but here would actually be an effective solution...
'Would... but it doesn't quite work that way...' says Eric...
At this point, the Men have seen Joey and Eric, and they start to form a line facing them. Each of them pointing their gun at the two...
'Boss wants him dead now...' the lead goon shouts...
'Fire...'
'Bullets get launched from their guns, and Joey steps forward with his hand outstretched - hoping to reproduce his heroic Daisy Bulletproof rescue.
One by one, the bullets do turn to metal liquid, each hitting Joey with the force of a paintball gun pellet.
'Haha... told you... bulletproof...' laughs Joey.
He concentrates for a second, and the Guns the goons are holding melt into a pile of slag.
Each of the Goons drop their guns, not wanting to get mess over their hands.
'We thought we might run into you Mr Gutierrez, so we bought along a backup piece' - taunts the lead goon, as he takes out a gun that appears to be 3D printed out of plastic..
Realizing that Joey can t stop these bullets or those guns, Eric steps forward...'
Joey not knowing the extent of Eric s powers tries to get him to take cover...
'It might be a good idea for us to run...' Joey to Eric
'Were trapped... we can t run... I'm done running...'
'You trust me right? Asks Eric...'
'Is this really the time to be having this conversation...' exclaims Joey
The hydra goons savoring the apparent domestic, take aim at Eric.
Erics Eyes start glowing purple... but this time not the pale violet that used to permeate his iris' when he teleported...
It was more of a dark purple that almost seemed to seap out of his eyes like a dark nimbus. A smoke that seemed to draw the light itself into it.
The dark purple vapor starts to swirl around him, soon occluding his body...
'Fire!'
The goons all fire at the mass of black purple smoke which has built up into a large mass...
Joey wasn t sure if Eric was still inside the mass of smoke, but he did hear the bullets impacting on something hard. Looking across the ground, Joey could see the bullets falling to the ground, each was crushed and bent beyond recognition.
Moments pass and the goons expect to see a Dead Eric on the ground...
The smoke clears... and to their horror stands a creature about 9 ft tall with a hard exoskeleton resembling a lobster or crab.
'Fine... take out Gutierrez...' - The goons shout
'The creatures eyes blaze red, and let s out a roar...'
Each of the Goons drop their guns, as their attention turns towards their necks...
They feel like they are suffocating, even though they can breathe just fine...
Purple particles of energy can be seen floating from the mouths of the Hydra goons towards the creature...
It was draining their life force, feeding on all of them simultaneously...
'No... get out of here... quick...' the goons exclaimed
The hydra goons tried to run back out the door, but it had closed shut behind them and locked...
One by one, they collapsed to the ground... losing consciousness...
'They will never stop coming... they wont stop until they get me...' Says Eric... somehow despite the lack of a human mouth...
'Eric... stop.. you don't have to kill them...' - Joey tries to calm Eric down.
'You saw them... they... they learn your weaknesses and then they try to kill you using them...
They tried to kill you!'
'Do you remember that promise you made...' - Joey reminds Eric of the promise he made those thousand years ago.
The Red light that was in the creatures eyes subsides and he calms down...
Joey steps out from behind him and takes his 'claw' trying to get him to return to human form...
Just as this happens, Daisy and Mac rush through the door, finding the Hydra goons unconscious and Joey in front of the 9ft tall creature...
JOEY GET DOWN! - Shouts Mac, thinking the creature is a threat.
'No guys wait...'
'It s Eric... he saved me!'
Eric hiding behind Joey, trusting what he said earlier about him protecting him...
'Purple smoke starts to appear and it envelops the creature... as it swirls in circular motion and reforms into Eric s human form...'
Eric looks at the faces of Daisy and Mac, who is now accompanied by Lincoln and May, each one looking at him not knowing what to make of him.
His own face wet from tears he had while transformed, he then focuses on Joey who is the only one smiling at him.
'It s over Eric, let's go...' - Joey says with a sense of hope in his voice.
Sensing relief from the constant running and hiding... Eric steps forward into Joey's arms and just hugs him.
'I don't want to run anymore...' he whispers They embrace tightly before letting go. Joey takes Eric's hand and the group head down the stairs calmly to the extraction vehicle outside.
Eric still apprehensive about throwing himself back into Shields 'care' knows only 2 things.
Either everything will be ok, like Joey said.
Or everything will be over...
Nictus & Shield
Eric has had his accommodation upgraded to Guest Quarters... no longer in immediate need of medical attention he has been confined to quarters until the team can be debriefed.
He is pacing a little, it s been about 4 hours and he hasn't heard from anyone.
He could teleport out of the room, but he doesn't want to risk ruining a good thing...
=============================================
'...Well I was unconscious for most of it...' - Joey explains.
'I only woke up after a day, if I knew I was going to be out of contact for a Day I...' - Joey stops.
'Joey?' Asks May - who is taking his debrief.
'Sorry May, but I would have done it all over again... If I didn't do what I did, he would probably be dead right now.'
'You don't know that Joey, we all saw what he s like, what he s capable of...' - May
'What he s capable of? You saw those Hydra goons, they had plastic bullets designed to kill me 'specifically'. They knew my name... He saved me!'
'You put both your lives in danger by leaving the Base while Hydra were looking for you...' - May says coldly.
'When will Hydra NOT be looking for us...' Joey shouts losing his temper.
'Tell me May, when will Hydra finally let me or anyone of us have a life!'
'Dismissed, return to your quarters...' - May finishes the interview, she obviously doesn t have an answer.
'You might not like how it played out Sir,
but we did come out of this with a few Hydra goons to interrogate... we might be able to get some valuable intel on Malik from them.' - Hunter tries to point out the silver lining.
'You saw what he became' - Coulson to May
'Is that an asset we can afford falling into Hydras hands?
'Definitely not'
'But there is a bigger issue...' - May to Coulson
'I know...' Coulson responds...
'Joey...'
Coulson now alone in the director s office...
Simmons enters with lab work.
'Excuse me sir, the lab work you wanted done on Joey is finished..'
'Please tell me Simmons,
you have found some medical reason why Joey would go off on a 1 day adventure with an Alien from another planet and put himself in mortal danger.' - Coulson, hoping for a chemical explanation.
'If you re looking for a medical reason that relates to extra-terrestrial interference, I don't think I have one...'
'I can tell you that Joey is medically fine, he just needs a good night sleep.
'Best I can tell that the Nictus feeding process drains energy from Humans that is recovered by sleep. The side effect is that someone who has been fed on just needs a good night sleep.'
'Blood work shows that he does have elevated levels of Melatonin which supports the hypothesis...'
'Long term side-effects?' Coulson asks
'This is a new alien life-form, the Human body isn't designed to be used for sustenance, if you re asking for specific medical complications that could arise from repeated feeding's, I can t even hypothesize. Theoretically, with enough time between feedings - there may not be any side effects... we won't know until...'
'Until we feed him someone...' - says Coulson.
'Or someone volunteers...' suggests Simmons.
'You mean Joey?' - Coulson asks.
'I know it sounds odd, but I think they genuinely care about each other...'
'They've known each other for what... 2,3 days?' - exclaims Coulson.
'It's unconventional, but hardly unheard of...
'Everyone has heard the rumours that Thor had a human sweetheart...' - Simmons visibly blushing at the thought...
'But Thor fights for the Avengers...' - Coulson reasons.
'So he has to be a superhero before you will treat him like a decent person...' Simmons says quietly.
'Thank you Simmons, that will be all...'
Simmons walks towards the door, stops to think and turns back to Coulson...
'You could always just ask him... if he wants to join Shield...'
Coulson turns to Simmons, tries to think of something to say, but the words just don't come out. He just smiles as if to say 'Dismissed' again.
Ending
It s the next day, and Coulson and Eric are sitting down at a desk in the Directors office, Daisy and Joey are both present.
'Suffice to say that I'm not particularly happy about the adventure you had in Paris' - Coulson starts his lecture.
'It was wreck-less, dangerous and you put one of my agents in harm's way, even if he was willing to be in 'harm s way'.
'I m sorry but...' Eric tries to speak.
'I m not finished...' - Coulson, not liking being interrupted...
'That being said, I've been told that our options are limited when it comes to you...
'Lock you up, feed you, you become our long term guest...'
'Lock you up, don't feed you, you die...'
'Release you and eventually Hydra will either kill you or turn you to their side...'
'Based on the things I've been hearing about how you were treated by Asgardians, and how you reacted towards one of them, I am not considering handing you over to them...
Eric looks up from the floor at Coulson, sensing a glimmer of hope as the conversation suddenly starts to feel more positive.
'So really the only option I see here is to enlist you as if you were an inhuman.'
'I don't necessarily know how that will work, given you re not an Inhuman, but we don't have any other training regime that would be appropriate.'
'There would be conditions put in place...
'You would be placed on the index for powered people...'
'We would want a full disclosure of powers and your history...'
'I've spoken with Agent Gutierrez, on the matter. He is willing to help out with your dietary requirements, so you will have no need to leave the Base without authorization.
Eric now looking at Joey smiling at the offer he just made.
'Don't get me wrong, you are effectively under house arrest until you earn our trust, even Joey will be grounded until his training is complete and I am confident that both of you can follow rules.'
'Eventually, with good behaviour those rules will be relaxed when I know both of you can be trusted...'
'You will also be subjected to non-invasive medical examinations routinely - this goes for Agent Gutierrez as well. We want to understand the feeding process of Nictus and maybe identify an artificial supplement.
'Questions?' - Coulson finishes
'What if Asgard finds out I m on Earth?' asks Eric.
'We tell where they can go...that's what...' - exclaims Joey.
'Ahem, thank you Agent Gutierrez' - Coulson (Daisy trying to hide her smile...)
'Obviously Thor plays an important part as a member of the Avengers and as 'protector' of Midgard...'
'That being said, he will face the fury of the remaining Avengers if he or any other Asgardian sets foot on this planet with the intent of abducting or harming a member of my team.'
'I can testify to that... they tried to get me once' - says Daisy, remembering when she was still going through Transition and Lady Sif tried to take her.
'I don't mean to rush you into a decision but I really...'
'YES!' exclaims Eric
'You sure this is what you want, it won t be easy...' explains Coulson
Eric looks at Joey,
both of them smiling
'I don't want to run any-more...' Eric to the Room
To be Continued