Chapter Four (A Dead Man's Choice)
Ward soon left the motel after everything that had occurred. He didn't want the possibility of his identity getting out. He knew that in a small town like that, heroes would be largely celebrated, and there would be lots of pictures. And if SHIELD got a hold of a picture of him a massive manhunt would likely ensue.
He may be labeled as dead, but there were probably still suspicions going around to whether or not he was actually dead. And he didn't want to take that chance at being captured.
He knew that Coulson was now Director of SHIELD, and he wouldn't probably make it easy for Ward if he ended up getting caught. And May, she was probably high up too. Ward even thought that somewhere he had saw that May was Deputy Director. And if she was, she would use her power to make Ward's life hell.
Ward shook that thought out of his head and kept on driving. He wanted to drive at least fifty miles away from that small town. Perhaps find another small town with another decent motel and stay there a while and then get on the move again.
The message he had received earlier from the Stranger, that's what he was calling him, floated back into his mind. Was he wanting Ward to round up all of the Fridge escapees? That's what it sounded like. Yes, he did feel guilty about helping free the prisoners, but he had no clue how to recapture them.
It wasn't like he was SHIELD anymore, he was nobody. He was a dead man trying to hide himself from the world. And yes, he did partially want to accept this stranger's request but there were two things stopping him. One, that last stranger that wanted to 'help' him was Garrett, and two, he had no clue how to do it.
How could you recapture extreme bad guys, some with all sorts of powers, without being known? Ward didn't want to be seen, and he knew that this was something that could get himself into SHIELD's eyesight. So taking this job upon himself was a huge risk.
"How am I supposed to do this?" he asked himself. "I'm trying to stay hidden, but I do want to try and do this. How?"
He let that settle into the back of his mind as he continued to drive.
About an hour later he arrived in another small town that luckily had a decent looking motel. He got himself checked in and headed towards his room.
He was exhausted. The whole escapade happened only a few hours ago, but the constant worrying and the quick escape had drug him down. So he decided to do something that he rarely ever did, relax.
Laying back on the nappy bed, Ward turned on the TV that happened to be on the news. But his stomach lurched at what they were covering.
"We're still following the bizarre incident in Bullstock today where a mysterious assailant, claimed to have some sort of telekinetic power, attacked a local diner. Witnesses report that the man had burst in about 12:30 this afternoon and demanded cash from the cashier.
When the cashier responded that all of the money had been recently locked away in the safe and that the off-grounds manager had the only access to it, the assailant was claimed to hold out his hand and hoist the cashier into the air. Witnesses claim that nothing was holding her up and she just started to float into the air.
Witnesses also report that another man, unknown, apprehended the assailant, knocking him out. The man hasn't been identified and was reported to disappear from the scene.
The assailant is reported by both police and SHIELD to be a SHIELD prison escapee by the name of Rick Monstan. Monstan escaped from a SHIELD prison last year in the Hydra uprising. He is now back in SHIELD's custody.
According to the newly-reformed government agency, there is a high number of escapees on the loose since the uprising. But they are assuring that everyone should be safe as they have numerous teams out hunting down these escapees."
The news anchor went on to another story.
'So there's more than just the Fridge escapees then.' Ward thought. 'SHIELD must not be doing a very good job at rounding them up then. So it's decided, I'll try to recapture these criminals, it's the least that I can do.'
He decided to try and send a text to the Stranger.
'Fine. I'll try to round them up the best I can. I just don't want to be caught since SHIELD knows my face.'
Ward stayed at the motel for two more days until a mysterious package showed up at his room's doorstep. He assumed that it was from the Stranger.
He took it inside and opened it up. An eyebrow raised as he took out a strange-looking mask. It was highly mechanical and skull-like and had a note attached to it.
'Glad to hear that you are willing to help. This is a gift from me, along with the knife and small gun. I had a friend make them especially for you. He says that the mask, however it works, is like a computer apparently. Once it's on, a display comes up. It should show targets that are know SHIELD escapees and other various things. It should keep your identity concealed according to him. I hope that you're successful in this.'
Again, no name.
Ward looked once more in the box and found a high-tech knife and gun that closely resembled an ICER, apparently he didn't need to be killing the escapees, only rendering them unconscious.
He looked back to the mask in his hand, its skull likeness glaring back at him. Was this who his persona was going to become, a skull? He wouldn't have thought of something menacing, just a simple mask.
But he was making the choice now, he was going to try and recapture these criminals, still knowing that even this wouldn't make up for the things that he has done.
Author's Note: I dont own AoS, Marvel does. Yeah, I dont feel like explaining this chapter other than Ward decides to track down the escapees. I wont be able to update for a day or two. And if you are wondering what the mask looks like, look up the game Dishonored, or if you play it, that's what it is supposed to look like. (That's where I got the story name from.) Keep reading and PLEASE review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.
