Brighter Futures
May landed the plane and taxied it to the hanger she'd arranged to be available to store it for the duration of her mission to Chicago. Powering down the engines, she walked back to talk with Skye, who had joined her for technical support (And, May personally felt sure, to avoid Dr House, who had been drawing her blood at a near-constant rate since his induction into SHIELD).
"Any more information on the objective?" She asked.
Skye looked up at her. "These chairs back here are killer. Why couldn't we have taken the Bus?"
"The Bus is reserved for the Director's use and specialized missions." May frowned. "Any information on the objective?"
Sky sighed and flipped her laptop around. "An odd one." She reported. "Not sure what drew our attention to her, she seems to be a very capable ex-cop, but nothing more. Though I guess there was that NYPD detective last week..."
"Agent Beckett has done some prior work with us, and Agent Castle..." May struggled a little with this one, "...is the son of an old friend of the Director." She had grave personal misgivings about that particular recruitment.
Skye grinned but did not comment, instead turning back to the laptop. "Anyway, there was this 'Special Investigation' squad she led in Chicago for several years. But even that—she did a good job with it, but it's not like major crimes or SWAT or anything. To be honest I can't even find out what they DO."
May frowned and looked at the laptop. "We may have worked with her before."
"Really?" Skye glanced at her. "There was something in the SHIELD database—some video of her shooting this enormous wolf-thing. Was she an agent?"
"Not like that." May shook her head. "Most major cities have at least one 'Special Investigations' squad... they're the ones we usually deal with when there's a meta on the loose."
Skye's face gained sudden interest. "Ah. So 'special' here means 'weird stuff,' huh? What do they usually handle when metas aren't around?"
That brought May up short. She had never honestly considered what a 'Special Investigations' squad would do when there weren't Gifted or Aliens involved. "Delusionary episodes, I suppose." She finally offered. "People who see ghosts, for instance."
"Remind me again why SHIELD doesn't believe in ghosts and psychics."
"There's no evidence for them. And before you say that last year we didn't have evidence of Norse gods either, let me remind you that there's also no evidence of the flying spaghetti monster." May allowed herself a quiet smile as Skye subsided. "Just because one legend is true doesn't automatically mean all legends are. Now. The target?"
Skye sighed. "No red flags on her discharge for the police force. Seems clean enough. I still haven't found anything on this Brighter Future Society that she's currently working for, or what she's doing for them—they don't even have a website."
"What kind of charity doesn't even have a website?" May frowned.
"I... doubt it's a charity." Skye answered, shooting her a significant look. "Here." A set of images filled the screen. "Their headquarters is a freaking castle, and I mean that literally. It's like they found some old medieval fortress somewhere in Europe and had it shipped over to Chicago. And the guy they have watching the door looks like he could snap Ward in half without breaking a sweat," Skye reported.
May examined the clip of footage that the rookie agent displayed. She idly noted that Skye was right about the security guard - apart from some footage of Thor in action, she'd never seen anyone that impressively built. Still... "He shouldn't be a problem." May noted, heading for the door.
"Ah, you're not going to find her there." Skye interposed, stopping May short. "I caught her and a group of her coworkers leaving their offices on a traffic camera half an hour ago."
May grunted with annoyance, turning again to look at the video. Her eyes narrowed suddenly. "Their body language... This isn't a business meeting they're heading to." She reported. "They look like they're expecting a fight. Can you track where they're going?"
Skye raised an eyebrow but obediently flipped the laptop around again. "Already on it. Something to do with work, I'm guessing—it's not lunchtime and it's too early for them to be going home for the day." Skye's fingers rattled the keys. "Let's see, I last had them headed towards Lake Michigan..."
"That doesn't narrow it down much." May crossed her arms. "Chicago's a major shipping hub. The dock district is huge."
"Huh... weird."
"What?"
"There's a block by the docks where every single traffic camera is malfunctioning." Skye reported, frowning at her screen. "Like every. single. one." She glanced up at May. "Bit unlikely for a coincidence, hm?"
May gave a short nod. "Keep me posted on their movements, and any police bulletins in the area. I'd rather not have to tell Coulson we lost Karrin Murphy." She marched off in the direction of the armory.
"Look out, Murphy!"
Karrin Murphy, once of the Chicago Police Department, ducked blindly and felt a scaly claw go whistling over her head. She shoved the stock of her shotgun back and was rewarded with gurgling croak of pain.
The Fomor were back. Privately Murphy suspected that the reason they kept returning was because if they stopped, their leaders would be admitting that they couldn't establish a foothold in the human city closest to their capital, which would be seen as a sign of weakness both within their court and to everyone else in the paranormal world.
Murphy had picked up on the disappearances after a few days. The Fomor definitely liked their twisted mind-slaves. Though she'd have liked to have more people available, Dresden and Butters were both out knighting for their respective superiors, and Molly was likewise unavailable. So Murphy had called together what she could, determined to make do with what she had.
The Alphas had taken point, with Murphy leading the others close behind. They'd quickly felled the first Fomor with a steel-jacketed bullet and two angry werewolves, but as it'd fallen it'd let out a loud scream, and then all hell'd broken loose.
"Murph! Up front!" Murphy's head shot up at the call, and she saw what the caller had recognized—a cage ahead where a crowd of blank-faced humans was staring out at them listlessly. And, less happily, the remaining Fomor on a walkway above it, readying an attack on Murphy and her party.
"Take cover!" Murphy roared, and dove behind a convenient crate as explosives and acid-filled bombs rained down.
Murphy huddled up against the back of the crate and took stock of the situation. This was bad. The Fomor had the high ground, and what little cover her group had wouldn't last long under that salvo. But they couldn't exactly return fire, with such a thick bombardment...
Suddenly, there was the chatter of an automatic rifle.
Murphy blinked. That sounded military—nothing like what her people (or the Fomor, obviously) had.
Another burst of gunfire. The bombardment was faltering, and Murphy risked a quick glance up.
An Asian woman, clad in leather and carrying an assault rifle, was fighting the Fomor on the walkway. She wasn't anyone Murphy knew. Had Marcone or Raith sent her?
Whoever she was, she was good. She gunned down three of the Fomor before they even realized she was there. One started to turn, but was rifle-butted in the face and then kicked off the walkway before it could pose a threat.
It was all the intervention Murphy and the others needed. As the Alphas bounded forward to deal with the downed Fomor, Murphy leveled her gun at the walkway and began to clear it. Not that it needed much—the Asian woman had nearly sliced through the last of them already.
Pushing herself to her feet, Murphy gave a quick glance around. The warehouse looked clear—already some of her colleagues were breaking open the cage and letting out the prisoners. Will came up to her. "Same as usual?"
Murphy nodded, pulling out her phone. "The police are going to be called in by an anonymous tip about another white slavery ring shortly - they'll see to it that the prisoners are given medical treatment and get home." She gave the warehouse another scan. "Make sure you guys check all the rooms—I don't want us missing anyone."
"Got it." Will nodded, jerking his head at some of the other Alphas. "Who's the chick in leather, by the way?"
"No idea." Murphy watched as the woman in question dropped off the walkway to the floor below. "Maybe Marcone hired himself a second Valkyrie." Pushing past Will, she approached the woman. "Thanks for the assist."
The woman held up a hand to signal silence. Her other hand was at her ear, and she appeared to be talking to someone. "Yes, Director." She said. "An 084." Her gaze scanned the bodies lying on the ground. "A LOT of 084's, actually. Trust me, you're going to want to be on hand for this one. Yes sir." Her hand dropped and she looked up. "Lieutenant Karrin Murphy?" She asked.
"Not for some time now." Murphy replied.
"Agent Melinda May, of SHIELD. I'd like to have a word with you."
"Frog people." Coulson repeated.
"I'm serious, Director." May's gait was tight and controlled, and her mouth was set in a thin line.
"I believe that." Coulson nodded. The two of them were walking down one of Chicago's seedier alleys. "In fact, as long as I've known you, I've never known you to be anything BUT serious. If I had to name a particular flaw with you, it's probably that you're TOO serious. I'm just having a little difficulty understanding how an army of frog people disappears."
May let out a long breath through her nose. "As am I."
Coulson shrugged, apparently dropping the subject. "Well, perhaps this Murphy can shed light on it. You say she appears talented?"
"Far more than her record led to suggest." May nodded. "Not just in assault and combat, but also in tactical knowledge and coordination. You may want to consider her in a leadership role."
"Hmm." Coulson nodded, but his face was doubtful. "Where are we meeting her again?"
"Neutral ground."
"Which means...?"
"She seemed to think that was enough." May shrugged. "I was eventually able to get her to provide a specific location—this pub." She nodded at the door ahead of them.
"Huh." Coulson said, pushing open the door. "Any idea why she thought it'd be so..." His voice died away.
On one of the support pillars in the pub was a large sign with "ACCORDED NEUTRAL TERRITORY" printed on it in obvious letters.
"I have a theory." May suggested.
"It basically means that anyone is welcome here, so long you understand that all disputes stop at the threshold." Murphy said, emerging from some corner. She pointed at the sign. "If the Red Skull was sitting at one of the tables here, you would be expected to drink your beer and mind your own business, and he would be expected to do the same."
"And what happens if you break that rule?" May inquired.
"You earn the enmity of every single group that's signed onto the Unseelie Accords, and then Mac won't sell you any of his beer." Murphy shrugged.
"Un... seelie Accords." Coulson repeated.
Murphy eyed him. "And you are?"
"Coulson. Phil Coulson." He extended his hand.
"Director Phil Coulson." May amended.
Murphy looked from one to the other, then shrugged. "C'mon." She made her way toward the back. "Will's got a table for us."
They followed her to the back. The more May glanced around, the more troubled she grew. There was something decidedly not-normal about this place and its patrons.
Seated at an empty table in the back was one of the young men she'd seen at the warehouse. He nodded at them. "Hey." His nose twitched ever so slightly.
"Will Borden." Murphy indicated, sliding into a chair. "Leader of the Alphas." She nodded at the glasses already on the table. "Drink up."
May sat but did not drink. Coulson took a sip, then uttered a short exclamation. "I suddenly understand the second part of that penalty." He said, gazing at the glass reverently. "Any chance he sells cases?"
Murphy smiled politely. "You mind if we get on with this?"
"Right, sorry." Coulson shook his head and set his glass down. "So. Frog men."
May winced.
"The Fomor." Murphy nodded. "They have a major base in Lake Michigan, so they keep coming out trying to abduct people they can twist into slaves. They've been attacking Chicago for the past three years."
May and Coulson both blinked. "Sorry?" Coulson managed.
"Three years." Murphy repeated, taking a sip of her beer. "They're a real pain in the ass."
"I don't suppose that SHIELD has a supply of depth charges we could use to get rid of them once and for all?" Will suggested.
Slowly Coulson shook his head. "A year ago we probably could have arranged for a destroyer to 'accidentally' lose some charges overboard, but we're sort of short on depth charges at the moment. And destroyers. If we'd known..."
Murphy's eyes narrowed. "Aren't you guys supposed to be some super-secret, ultra-on-top-of-things paramilitary group? And yet you've never heard of the Fomor?"
"Three years ago we were kind of dealing with this whole 'Norse gods on earth' situation." Coulson explained.
Murphy and Will both snorted and exchanged glances. Apparently something about that struck them as funny.
"Look, exactly how much do you know about the supernatural world?" Murphy leaned forward. "The Fomor, okay, but they're comparatively new. What about the war with the Red Court before that?" She looked from one blank face to another. "Really? Went on for about a decade, caused all the instability in Central America... really, nothing? What about the Denarians? No? The Black Court scourge that was based in Chicago roughly ten years ago?" A slow look of horror crossed her face. "Having to tell you about the pub... do you even know what the Unseelie Accords ARE?"
"Losing so much respect for the US government right now." Will muttered.
"Technically we're an international force." Coulson raised a finger.
"Dear god..." Murphy hid her head in her hands. "You guys never even knew..." Slowly her head raised. "Although, on second thought, that actually makes me feel better than if you'd known about all of that and just sort of... let it happen."
"I take it that's what the Special Investigation squad usually deals with, then." May observed. At Murphy's weary nod she frowned. "There was nothing in your reports about that..."
"Because saying 'a vampire did it' doesn't usually go over well." Murphy rolled her eyes.
"And the Brighter Future Society?" May asked.
"The Brighter Future Society is a coalition of civilians who are aware of the supernatural, minor practitioners, and the local mob who have banded together to protect this city." Murphy answered. She sounded like she was reciting from a pamphlet.
"What about funding?"
"We get money from this family of vampires that feed on sex." Will snorted. "We're protecting people from the weird. Isn't that kind of supposed to be your job?"
May coughed and leaned toward Coulson. "He has a point." She muttered in his ear.
Coulson gave the smallest nod. "Forget point, he's got a full stab wound." He muttered back. "We never even suspected this entire society. SHIELD was supposed to be on the lookout for weird stuff—it's how we found mutants."
"So how did we always get mutants, but never magicians?"
Coulson slowly shook his head. "There must have been a cover-up somewhere. HYDRA?"
"If it'd been them, they'd be all over this community." May pointed out.
"Maybe..." Coulson blinked suddenly, his face filling with a new idea. "Maybe that's why we never knew. Maybe someone in the magic community knew about HYDRA, and hid them from SHIELD because of it."
"That would be extremely difficult." May shook her head.
"What does SHIELD want with me, anyway?" Murphy broke into their little conference.
Coulson turned back to the table and gave a quick smile. "To make things right."
Murphy and Will looked confused, so May elaborated. "We want you to join SHIELD." She explained. "Help us build it back."
Murphy snorted, and Will actually laughed. "After telling us how completely inept you guys are?" He asked.
"Exactly." Coulson nodded. "Obviously, this is a world we need to know more about. Also obviously, you know more than us."
"That's not saying much." Murphy pointed out.
"Need to start somewhere." Coulson shrugged. "Besides, as you just said, you're practically doing SHIELD's job already. Who better to teach us how to do it?"
"Oh? And why should we help?" Will folded his arms. "Clearly we've been doing fine without you."
Coulson shrugged. "Doesn't mean you couldn't use help."
"Last year, HYDRA picked up a 'minor practitioner' and used him to make a super-soldier serum." May interposed. She wasn't totally sure whether Scorch counted as a magician or a gifted, but it wasn't the time to check. "We didn't realize the danger he was in until he was taken, and weren't able to find him until it was too late. He went insane and exploded." May was gratified to see the look on Will's face. "Clearly, we need to be able to find minor practitioners and protect them before HYDRA gets to them, and uses whatever they take from their dead bodies to make more weapons."
"So there's that." Coulson smiled. "You're clearly the sort that looks out for more than just himself. You may not need us, but others do."
May could not help glancing at her boss in admiration. She knew Fury'd chosen him for a reason, but his ability to connect with the good in people still amazed her.
Murphy was notably quiet. She seemed to be considering what they had said. "What do you have in mind?" She said at last.
There was a short pause as Coulson seemed to think the question over. They were in uncharted waters here, this sort of thing hadn't even been on the table when they walked into the pub. "Information, at least." He said at last. "We need to be able to understand what's going on. Is there a way we can learn when things are going on so that we can try to do something about it?"
Murphy paused to think. "There might be. I can get in touch with a friend who owns a magical database that can interact with a computer without breaking it."
A blink from Coulson. "I'm sorry... breaking it?"
"Magic and technology don't mix." Will offered. "Surprise."
"And that would be why every traffic camera near the Fomor base was broken?" May asked.
Murphy nodded. "I'll have him send you an overview of the various powers of the magical world and what you need to know to survive in it. There's also the Paranet - an association of minor practitioners around the world who have banded together for their own protection. If anyone in the group suddenly goes missing, they'd be the first to know." She gave a sudden shrug. "Some might even be up for working for you."
"Murph..." Will gave a low growl.
"They can't defend themselves against humans, Will. If they try, they might end up killing someone, and then the Council will send the Wardens to kill them." Murphy shot back. "They're going to need someone, and we can't trust the White Court on this."
Coulson was clearly puzzled (And a little worried about this 'Council' and their 'Wardens'), but he hid it well. "And you?" He asked. "Clearly we're going to have to add a 'Special Investigations' division to SHIELD... keeping track of the supernatural, coordinating with members of the magical community." He raised his eyebrows. "Going to need people to help with it."
"I'll... think about it." Murphy rose abruptly with a sigh. "I've got responsibilities here too, you realize."
"Of course." Coulson nodded, and handed her a card. "You can use a phone, I take it?"
"Both of us can. Most minor practitioners can use cell phones and computers without them breaking down too often. It's only when they get into the upper levels that things like that happen regularly."
"Call that number if you decide to help." Coulson smiled. His face suddenly filled with a new thought. "Actually, maybe there's something you can help with." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the photograph of a man. "Someone who came up on our radar recently—Stephen Strange. HYDRA's apparently interested in him, but we can't figure out why. The only clue we have is the name 'Rashid.' Any connection to your people at all?"
Murphy glanced at the photo but shook her head. "Sorry, never seen him before. He might be in the deeper magical world, though... my connections only go so far."
"Ah." Coulson pocketed the photo again. "Sorry, thought it was worth a try."
May wrote down some information on a napkin. "Have your friend send the information to this site. Make sure you send it all at once - the site will delete itself after relaying it to us. HYDRA has a very nasty surveillance program in place, and this is the only way to slip a file transfer under its radar." It had taken the combined efforts of Skye, Root and Finch over the course of a month to set up the encryption protocols necessary to pull that off, and even then they couldn't guarantee that Samaritan wouldn't notice something was up and start investigating if the protocol was used twice from the same website.
Murphy took the napkin and left, Billy trailing behind. May turned to Coulson. "A 'Special Investigations' division? We barely have the people for one division now."
"Squad, or section then." Coulson shook his head as picked up the beer again. "We need to do something. This is a gaping blind spot in our intelligence. Especially if HYDRA is already on the trail." He took out the photo and frowned at it again.
May gave a reluctant nod. "Do you think that's why the Machine gave us her number?" She suggested. "So we'd find out about this?"
"Don't know how even the Machine could know about this." Coulson shook his head. "Apparently these people - or at least the movers and shakers among these people - wreck surveillance systems just by being around them. Unless it was through this friend Murphy mentioned. Still." Coulson shrugged. "Who knows? I'm past trying to guess what that program knows and doesn't know." He paused to sip from his beer, frowned at seeing it was empty, and looked at May's glass. "You going to drink that, or...?"
May rolled her eyes, picked up the glass, and downed it in one gulp. "We should get back to the plane." She said, standing.
While Coulson was haggling with Mac about buying a few extra cases of the beer, May noted Murphy off to the side, talking to someone on her cell phone. She caught a few words of the conversation as it ended.
"... and for God's sake, don't include anything about Ivy."
Skye was looking at the plane's computer when they arrived.
"We just got a data packet on a secured channel from someone calling himself Bob the Skull. It's... large." She reported.
"Murphy said she'd be having a friend send us an overview of what we need to handle supernatural cases. That must be it." May told her.
"An overview?" Skye looked skeptical. "It's going to take two or three people just to look through this stuff. If this is an overview, we're going to need a whole new division to get a more detailed version."
Coulson grinned at May triumphantly, who just rolled her eyes. "Try to look through it on the flight back. Oh, and let me know if you see anything in there about somebody named Ivy."
"Ivy?"
"Someone that the Brighter Future Society doesn't want SHIELD to know about. Which means that she's probably someone important." May left for the front of the plane.
They had nearly arrived in Malta when Skye came up to the front.
"You'll be interested to know that there ARE such things as psychics." She said smugly. "The reason SHIELD's never found one before is because reading people's minds is apparently a capital felony under wizard law, so most of them get their heads cut off before they can do anything that would cause them to pop up on our radar. And that's not the strangest thing in the files by a long shot.
"Did you know that the Asgardians are running a private security firm in Oslo?"
A/N: A lot of situations in The Dresden Files are bad enough or strange enough that SHIELD, as the only government organization in the world that openly acknowledges that there is weird stuff out there that defies most rational explanation, should have been interested in, but they never show (Because Marvel Comics exists in the canon Dresdenverse - Harry is an avid Spider-man fan). In a world where both do exist, the most likely reaction to SHIELD finally showing up would probably be on the order of 'Where were you when we needed you?'
The Archive is almost certainly the single most dangerous figure in the Dresdenverse from the perspective of SHIELD and HYDRA. Ivy is just a teenaged girl, but she literally knows everything that has been written (Both physically and electronically) by anyone, anywhere, ever, including every single piece of classified data in existence. That would make her either the ultimate security risk or an instant game breaker, depending on whether she's enemy or ally, and neither side would be able to trust in the fact that her purpose as the keeper of mankind's knowledge requires her absolute neutrality. That's why Murphy doesn't want them to know about her.
Special thanks goes out to Afalstein, and not just for creating the Recruitment Drive series. I have been sending him advance copies of my contributions from the start to ensure that my additions fit in with his general vision of where the story as a whole will be going, and making revisions based on his comments. His input this time around was significant enough that I consider him to be a co-author for this chapter, instead of just being a pre-reader.