It was well after dark when the quinjet landed at the temporary S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, just before a billboard saying "Welcome to Westview." Floodlights were set up around the perimeter, angled to make sure no one tried to sneak in.
Bruce, Tony, Natasha and Khamala and stared at the scene. Beyond the perimeter, instead of the lights of the town that would be expected, there was some ripple in the air, faintly glowing but not in any recognizable shape.
It was hard to imagine this place as the sunny, friendly town they'd visited just three months ago.
Dr. Lewis and the agents stepped out to have a quiet word with a couple of lab-coated scientists. It sounded like a "Any new developments?" "No" kind of exchange.
Agent Woo returned to them a moment later. "Black Widow, you're going to want to follow me."
"What about the others?"
"Just you."
The Avengers exchanged glances.
"Go. I'll keep an eye on things here," Tony said, a slight wariness in his voice belying the confidence of his words.
Natasha followed Agent Woo to a darkened hanger near the outskirts of the eerie little temporary colony. This particular building seemed to be deserted, and Natasha was on high alert for an ambush. Woo waited outside.
"I can't say I blame you for not spilling what you know to Woo. Trust is a rare commodity these days."
Natasha turned. He couldn't make out his face in the dark, but Nick Fury's voice was unmistakable.
"I might've been more trusting if I knew you were calling the shots. Haven't seen you around for a while."
"I've been handling some things out of town. But this has priority. Why are you interested in Westview?"
Natasha hesitated. It would probably be fine to tell Fury the truth. It might even a good idea. But it might not be. She knew Fury was capable of drastic things if he thought the safety of the world was at stake.
He got impatient with Natasha's reticence. "Were you investigating a woman named Mary Jo ?"
"Who?" Natasha asked.
Fury stepped closer, his one good eye staring Natasha down. "You weren't there about Jo?"
"No. Never heard the name."
"Good. Forget you heard it now. So why are you here?. And why you agreed to come all the way out here no questions asked."
Natasha knew better than to deny it now that Fury had guessed the truth. "We need a neural uplink for Jarvis and it was S.H.I.E.L.D. That told us about Jane Foster going missing in Westview
"Really? I for one have a hard time believing a town where one of the most powerful people on Earth lives gets sucked up in some kind of dimensional vortex and it's a coincidence. Thanks for the info. You can stick around and help figure out how to stop this thing, or you can leave, but keep in mind, this is top secret. The last thing we want is for the world to find out a whole town was swallowed up, and we don't know why or whether it could happen to them."
" The uplink is in a old S.H.I.E.L.D. Base in Westview, so we're sticking around for a while." Natasha said before leaving and rejoining the others.
