Avenger for Hire
Manhattan, New York – 1:15 PM
Fury received the calls from Coulson and Hill. He was almost to New Orleans and she had just finished up in Los Angeles. Literally, by this time two days from now, the New Avengers would be assembled and they could get started in saving the world. He had to admit, all of the travel around the country had him missing his actual job. Hopping on planes and playing recruiter was always more of Coulson's thing than his, and now that he had first hand experience at it, he would never begrudge him for it.
Coulson finishing as easily as he did actually served as a benefit for Fury. Danny Rand and Fury's mark, the man known as Luke Cage, were best friends. If Rand was already on the team, and told Cage about Coulson's visit, then he might have been more likely to join also. Or at least that was what Fury was hoping for.
With that in mind, he parallel parked his car across the street from the modest flat belonging to Luke Cage. He exited and wasted no time in quickly crossing the street. From the sidewalk, he could hear the neighbors screaming and arguing about whatever it was that people argued about nowadays. Fresh garbage from the dirty garbage cans collected near the street reached his nostrils. The pungent smell of dirty diapers and rancid milk nearly made him gag. "Sooner I get out of here, the better."
He rung the doorbell and stepped back. "Luke, get the door!" he heard a woman yell inside.
Moments later, heavy footsteps approached the door before it opened, revealing a large, imposing black man. The bald headed man wore a black undershirt that barely concealed the tight, chisled chest and abdomen underneath, and a pair of white basketball shorts. He looked at Fury with a raised eyebrow and suspicion etched across his face.
"Mr. Cage, I'm Nick Fury of SHIELD. We need to talk."
Luke sighed heavily. "We already paid our taxes and the lawsuit was already dropped. We have nothing to talk about." Before he could close the door, Fury spoke up again.
"I already know all of that, but that isn't why I'm here. If I may…"
Luke considered him for a moment before nodding and allowing him room to enter. Fury slipped past him and immediately scanned the room. The apartment, what little of it he could see of it, was modest and simple, but still well furnished. A small, four person dining room table sat a couple of yards behind the small, tan does that was littered with toys and dolls that would normally belong to a little infant. If he didn't already know about little Danielle Cage, then he might have been annoyed. Well, more than he was. If there was one thing Nick Fury didn't like, it was babies.
There was a red and pink playpen near the television, filled with more toys. He sighed heavily.
"Would you like something to drink or eat, Mr, Fury?" Cage offered. Fury chuckled at the ludicrousness of being called 'Mr. Fury', and then shook his head.
"No, I have to leave shortly. I just wanted to talk to you about the Avengers. Your team, the Heroes for Hire, you all were inspired by them, correct?"
Luke leaned back in the black chair he pulled from the dining room table and folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah. We liked what they did, so me and my friends got together and did something similar." He chuckled softly. "'Cept we get paid. You have no problem with that, right?"
"No, I suppose I don't. Not right now, anyway," he answered. "But that isn't important right now. What is important is you giving serious thought to my offer. The Masters of Evil are mobilizing to take over the planet. There's no one right now in the world who can stand up to them. Washington DC yesterday? That is just the tip of the iceberg. We'll be seeing a hell of a lot more cities getting wiped out before it's all said and done."
"You're right about that," Luke agreed with an appreciative nod. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"I'm putting another team together, and I want you to be a part of it. As far as I can see, the heroes I already have assembled are the ones capable of stopping the Masters and saving the world." Before Fury could even finish, Luke was shaking his head. "You don't agree?"
"No, I do agree. But there's no way I can get involved in that."
"And why would that be?"
"I have a family, as you can see. The last thing that I want is for something to happen to them. So, I'm staying out."
He was afraid that he would rationalize in that way. "Until what?"
"Until what?" he parroted, confusion evident.
"You said you'll be staying out of the global conflict. That's fair. But how long will you be staying out of it? Until they've taken over? Almost taken over? Either way, it'll be too late. The time to mount a resistance is now, while there's still plenty of time. Any longer and we run the serious risk of staging a futile resistance."
"I get that." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "But, my girl…"
"I assure you that Jessica and Danielle will be safe. We place them into protective custody, along with other families belonging to the Avengers."
Luke frowned. He didn't tell Fury a thing about his family, let alone their names. "I'm disturbed that you know my wife and daughter's names. And that might not be enough."
Fury ignored the jab at his intel and frowned. "Says who?"
"Baron Zemo."
Fury leaned forward and folded his hands together. "You've spoken with him?"
Luke nodded. "Last week, after I had finished a job in Seattle.…
Luke, wearing his yellow T-shirt and black pants that comprised his uniform, stood before a brown haired man wearing simple clothes and a brown leather jacket. He happily received the stack of one hundred dollar bills the man placed in his hand. He turned and handed the stack to the brown skinned woman in a red and black Kevlar/leather mixed crop top with matching pants and a red head band keeping her Afro in place. Her gold metal arm grasped the money tightly.
"Thank you both, Power Man and Ms. Knight. If it wasn't for you two, I probably wouldn't have been able to do this on my own."
"No problem, Mr. Jones. Always happy to help," Luke replied. For a price was left unsaid.
"Hey listen, if you have the time, do you think you can help me with something else, a missing person?"
"Yep. Someone you know get kidnapped? Misty Knight inquired.
"Um, not exactly. His name is Bruce. Bruce–"
"Bruce Banner? Shit." Luke rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure. Get a clue for us or something and then we can talk numbers."
Rick Jones nodded and started to turn, but stopped when he noticed a black car pull up to the curb by the building the three of them were standing next to. Rick frowned and hurriedly took his leave. Luke and Misty saw the car as well, but just assumed that the paranoia in Rick from years of helping a man was essentially a wanted man caused him to overreact.
Misty pulled her phone out and dialed a number. "Hey, baby. We're done here."
Danny Rand was one the other side. "Awesome. Everything went well?"
"Yep. Ross' people won't be illegally detaining anyone for his personal vendetta for a while." Luke smirked, and allowed his view to drift toward that car that was still parked on the curb. The window rolled down. "Get the plane ready for us, 'kay."
"Rain check on the jet, Misty," Luke said gravely. Misty frowned and followed his line of sight, and cursed. Baron Zemo peered at them from inside the car and gestured for them to approach.
"Uh, I'll call you back, babe." She hung up and followed Luke to the car.
"Mr. Cage, Ms. Knight. Care to join me?"
"As if we have a choice, Zemo."
The black limousine lurched forward and casually crept down the street. Inside, Misty and Luke never took their eyes off of the would-be world conqueror. Zemo, for as much as he had done the past few weeks, was the epitome of calm. "So," he said finally, "I have been paying attention to your exploits over the last few days. Very impressive. We, or I, would like to pursue a business deal with you. I think you'll find my financial offer to be quite fair." At that, he handed them a folded up piece of paper.
Luke snatched it out of his hand and scanned it. The seven zeroes nearly made him consider it. Almost. He tore it up and placed the pieces into Zemo's glove. "So, is that all?"
Zemo folded his arms across his chest. "I don't understand. I was certain that you took any job, as long as the price was right. You wouldn't have even had to kill anyone; just find a few important people."
"You're right; I did." Ever since Dr. Doom gypped him out of a payment after doing a job for him, he swore to never take a job from a supervillain again. "Never again am I taking jobs from your type of people."
"My type of–"
"So, if that's all," he cut in, "you can just drop us off here." He and Misty gained the same smirk and folded crossed their arms.
Zemo leaned back in his seat and interlocked his fingers. "Very well. I was hoping you would accept my proposal, but then, it was a stretch to begin with. If you don't wish to join me, then you are indeed free to depart." Luke and Misty shared a glance.
"Just like that?"
"Ja, just like that." The limousine stopped in front of an alleyway six blocks from where they were picked up. Before they could climb out, Zemo spoke again. "Oh, how could I have forgotten. If neither of you intend to join me, please, I ask that you stay out of our way. I really would hate for something to happen."
Luke snorted. "Happen? And what will happen if we say for you to shove your warning up your ass?"
"I'll kill you."
Despite the seriousness of his tone, they guffawed heartily. "You?" Luke barely managed to heave out. "Feel free to start being serious. You haven't met me before, have you?"
Unfazed by their ridicule, he continued. "Yes, I have heard of your unbreakable skin, Mr. Cage. Unbreakable doesn't automatically mean unkillable. Even still, your wife isn't unbreakable. Not entirely. Your daughter certainly isn't. It would be a crying shame if they were to die in the most painful manner possible because of your bravado."
Luke froze. "You… you wouldn't."
"I wouldn't? I'm the man shot America's son in the head. I'm the one who killed the crown prince of Asgard. What doubt could there be that I couldn't orchestrate the murder of someone as… unremarkable as Jewel. Or should I say Jessica Jones."
Luke growled and tried to lunge for Zemo, but was just barely held back by Misty.
Zemo laughed. "That's what I thought. So, go on and cross us if you'd like. Just make sure to be prepared to watch your wife and father die slowly and painfully, and prepare to rest knowing that your little mädchen (girl) is in the safe, capable hands of Hydra."
Luke struggled to catch his breathe. He tried to speak, but only partial thoughts and jumbled words managed to fall out.
"Thought so. Now you are free to leave. For your sake, we'd best not cross paths again."
After they climbed out, the limousine pulled off, leaving them stranded miles from the nearest air strip. Luke sunk to the ground and could only cradle his head in his massive hands. "It'll be alright, Luke. We'll think of something."
After Luke finished his story, Fury let out a silent string of curses. Threatening a man's family was well within Zemo's wheelhouse. He would pull something like this in a heartbeat if he knew he could very away with it.
"I know I have to do something. I know I'll have to eventually. But I can't. Not while knowing that Jess and Danielle are in danger. I want to accept your offer; I want to do something to help, but I can't."
Fury thought for a moment. "We have protective custody arrangements with many small towns around the world. If you want, we can send them to one of those. Give them new identities, new lives until it's safe." Seeing that he was still hesitant, he added, "Think about it."
"How long before you have all of this set up?"
"I'm calling one of my agents to set everything up as soon as I get in my car. It should all be ready by tomorrow afternoon."
"It should, or it will?"
"I'm certain. We've done this probably hundreds of times. They'll be safe. I give you my word."
He looked as if he was about to accept right then and there, but he recoiled back. "Lemme talk it over with Jessica. Do you have a number that I can call?"
"I dropped the habit of giving out my personal cell number." He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the cards they cards they had been handing out. "Touch the emblem if you decide to join in. If not, destroy it. Regardless, I'll have her custody set up. I've a feeling she'll be needing it soon." With that, he stood and shook Luke's hand, "Good luck, Mr. Cage."
"Thanks. You too."
Once outside and nearly to his car, he pulled out his phone. He caught himself about to dial Sitwell. He was the go to guy outside of Coulson to set up the protective custodies. "Ward, it's Fury. Set up a level six protective custody for Jessica Jones and her daughter. If we're go have Cage join the team, they'll need to be in the wind by tomorrow." Receiving confirmation, he hung up and drove off. Damn you, Zemo. Don't you have any honor? Or do you, and you're just a good poker player?
For the record, he really hoped that it was the former. At least then, they'd know if he was serious. Else, beating him might have been a little tougher than it was previously.