Chapter 4: The Gala Aftermath

Arc 1: Out of Shadows

*Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or anything Marvel-related, all I own are my OCs.

1 Week Later - November 2009 - New York City

It had been a week since The Maverick Gala and in that week things had been up for Cedric. Geoff was supposed to give him a suit but he said that his connect actually needed more time to design a suit for him. Honestly, it was fine, he didn't need a suit at the moment, he was content with staying in the shadows, being a vigilante. He didn't need the media attention, he just wanted to help as many people as possible.

The Maverick Gala granted him an opportunity to network and create some connections that will help him get his name out in the market and in return put more money in his pocket. And that wasn't the only great thing that happened to him that night. He met Nancy Rushman and Nancy was a woman that he would definitely never forget. He found that Nancy was an accountant for an independent firm. He found out that she actually spoke a ton of languages, even Russian and Latin, although Latin was a dead language.

Currently, he was walking her back to her apartment after a date. This was their 3rd date in the past week. The connection he felt with her was strong. He felt like he could be himself around her with no fear about how she would view him.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Cedric asked as he had his hands in the pockets of his slim-fitting black jeans. He was dressed in a black button-up shirt, black loafers with a black blazer. A rather basic outfit but it worked for their dinner date tonight.

"I did. I especially enjoyed the part where the waitress tried flirting with you," Nancy replied with a smirk on her face making him chuckle. Nancy was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans with black thigh-high leather boots and a white blouse with a black leather jacket.

"And you checked her with that same look on your face now. I believe you were jealous." He said smiling as he turned to face her.

"Jealous is such a strong word. I'm just protective of what I like."

"Sometimes I wonder how you managed to be single for so long," He said

"A lot of men can't handle a woman like me," She said with a smirk on her face. Cedric chuckled and smiled looking down at the sidewalk.

"I'm not your ordinary man," He said with a smirk as he set his gaze up on her.

"Really, I think you should put your money where your mouth is," She said, biting her lip as she looked up into his eyes.

"That sounds like an invitation?" He said as they stopped in front of the front door of her apartment building.

"It can be if you can back yourself up," She said as she gave him a seductive smile.

"An invitation to what?" He asked with a small smile. He knew what the invitation was but he just wanted to play along a bit longer. She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered something in his ear and having the ability to hear things from hundreds of miles away only seemed to enhance the message.

"Well, in that case, I accept," He said, chuckling. She smiled and grabbed him by the wrist dragging him to the door of her apartment building.

The sun started to rise signaling the beginning of a new day in The Big Apple. The sound of several taxi cabs and other vehicles on their morning commute to work could be heard. And Cedric's enhanced hearing didn't really make it any better. He stood on the balcony looking out over the city. Nancy had a nice view of the city. It wasn't like the view his aunt had but it still was a pretty good view for what it was.

He stood there, leaning against the rails shirtless in his black jeans from the night before. He peeked over his shoulder to see Nancy still laying down in the bed still asleep. He walked back into the bedroom, picking his shirt up off the ground along with his blazer. He put on his loafers and walked around to her side of the bed, leaning down to give her a kiss on the forehead, and quickly made his way out of the bedroom and out of the apartment.

Almost as soon as the door closed, Nancy's eyes quickly shot open and she sat up, looking around the room to make sure he was gone. She then heard the sound of an object vibrating making her sigh as she reached over and opened the drawer of her nightstand pulling out a flip phone.

"Director," She answered.

"Agent Romanoff when I said I want you to get close to the target, I didn't mean that close. Your mission simply was to get close to the target and watch him and make sure that he isn't a threat to our world's security," The "Director" shouted over the phone making her roll her eyes in response.

"Your 'threat' Director Fury hasn't shown any of the abilities you have mentioned. I believe he's not as much of a threat as you said he may be."

"And surely, your relations with him for the past few days haven't gotten in the way."

"Sir-"

"Don't try to argue with me. You're way too close to him. You're getting reassigned."

"But sir-" The woman, whose true last name was Romanoff, was about to say but the phone call ended making her sigh when she heard the click. She closed the phone and placed it back into the drawer and laid back down in the bed staring up at the ceiling.

She was on a mission. A mission to watch what Nick Fury said could be a world-ending threat if he just so chose to do so. She couldn't understand how a guy who loves to drink wine and cappuccinos and wear henley sweaters was supposed to be this big threat to global security. But apparently, he was. So far, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary from him.

This wasn't a thing she usually did. Sleep with anybody on the mission. He was her mission and she slept with him. He was causing her to act out of her character. He was a disease to her. A disease that needed to be cured.

There was something about a smile. Especially a genuine smile. A smile that couldn't be erased. Typically a smile represents happiness, good news, love, and joy. All of those words were something that Cedric felt at this very moment. Nancy was a special woman. A truly special woman.

Cedric was walking down the street with a cup of coffee in his hand. He had stopped to grab himself a cup. He didn't need it but it made him feel normal. It made him feel human. The smile that was on Cedric's face couldn't be wiped away and it was all because of Nancy. She was just different. The smile that was on his face soon faded away as he felt a vibration in his pocket causing him to reach into his pocket and take out his phone seeing it was a call from Geoff. He swiped the accept button on the screen and placed the phone up to his ear.

"Oh, so you do know how to answer the phone," He heard Geoff scold him over the phone causing Cedric to roll his eyes.

"Sorry, man. I've been busy."

"With what?"

"If I told you wouldn't believe me."

"The realm of what I believe has increased exponentially. Especially once I found out that my best friend can leap tall buildings in a single bound and is faster than a speeding bullet." Cedric chuckled as he heard his best friend.

"I met a woman."

"Wait, is this the one you were telling me about a while back? Mikayla, I think that was her name."

"No, it wasn't Mikayla." Although in a way, Mikayla had been on his mind recently. Really every day. Did he like Nancy? Yes, very much so. As much as he thought about Nancy for some reason, Mikayla still found a way to be in his thoughts at times.

"Her name is Nancy Rushman. I met her at the Maverick Gala."

"For real?"

"Yes."

"Is she cute?"

"Extremely."

"How long have you two been seeing each other?"

"Roughly about a week but last night was the night that we-"

"Stop right there, do not continue." Cedric chuckled as he heard his friend's response.

"I won't. Shouldn't you be bringing me a suit?"

"Yeah and about that-"

"Let me guess, you're having trouble."

"I am."

"Well, you can take as long as you need. I'm not in a hurry." Cedric said as he turned his head, peeping into an alleyway to see a man with a gun pressing it up to the side of the head of a woman.

"Listen, I'm gonna have to call you back," He hung up the phone and placed it in his pocket, and started to walk down the alleyway. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them as they began to glow with blue energy. Cedric bolted towards the gunman, hitting him with a shoulder block that sent him flying.

"You alright?" Cedric said, peeking over his shoulder.

"Yes, I'm alright." He heard a voice say. He recognized the voice, it sounded like Skye. He wanted to turn around to confirm but he didn't want her seeing his face and possibly recognize him.

"You're him. The Blur," She said, shocked as she saw the figure that she thought was an urban legend. Cedric simply said nothing but looked forward at the wall in front of him before beams shot out of his eyes at the wall. Cedric carved the shape of his family emblem into the wall. He then bolted off without a trace, without saying anything.

Skye looked on with a smile on her face in amazement. One minute he was here and the next he was gone.

Cedric walked into his current place of residence with a paper cup of coffee in his hands. He closed the door behind himself and peeked over his shoulder to see his aunt sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in her hand and a pair of glasses in her hand. She had an iPad in hand looking at something.

"You forgot to call me." His aunt's first words to him were making him sigh as he looked down at the floor. He did honestly forget to call her and tell her not to wait up on him. That was their deal, he could do whatever he wanted except bring a girl home. He just needed to communicate.

"I'm sorry. I just got caught up."

"You said that last time. Maybe one day, I'll have the luxury of meeting her."

"Maybe." He walked over to her and leaned over, giving her a kiss on the cheek before walking to his bedroom to grab a quick change of clothes after his shower.

"Have you seen the news lately?"

"No ma'am. I have not. Why?"

"There's been supposed news of a metal man in the middle east."

"Metal man?" He questioned as he walked back into the living room taking the iPad from his aunt's hands to see an image of what looked to be a humanoid figure in a burgundy and gold type of metallic suit on his aunt's iPad.

"These images were released yesterday. Media thinks Tony Stark has something to do with it."

"Why?"

"It's reported that the area attacked was believed to be the same area that Stark was kidnapped from."

"How many news sources are covering this?"

"NBC, CNN, The Times, Washington Post, every major news outlet in the country is covering this." A metal man. This raises the stakes in a way. What other threats could there possibly be? He handed the iPad back to her.

"I hate to make it about me but, in a way, this takes the heat off me for a while."

"Not quite, your mom's gonna be coming in soon." Cedric sighed as he heard the news of his mother's arrival. He had been ignoring her calls for the past few weeks. Ever since he started his crusade, he had been ignoring her. He didn't want to talk about it and deal with the conversation that would follow.

"How soon, are we talking?"

"Possibly around 5 tonight at 7 at the latest."

"Dammit." He cursed under his breath as he looked at the floor. "How long is she gonna be here?"

"Till the Sunday after next. So about 2 weeks."

"You think she knows?"

"Baby, your crusade has gained national attention. I'm pretty sure you'd have to be living under a rock to not hear about it."

"Dammit, you're right. We just have to see what she says. We'll go from there."

"Only thing we can do."

Suddenly, Cedric's phone started to ring, making him reach into his pocket and quickly grab his phone, pulling it out, seeing that it was Miles. Cedric sighed and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cedric, you busy at the moment?"

"No, what do you need?"

"I have an opening in my schedule and was wondering if you want to grab lunch together at 1."

"Sure, send me the address and I'll be there."

"Alright, I'll see you." Cedric hung up the phone and placed it back into his pocket. He sighed as he massaged his temples.

"Who was that? Mikayla?" He turned his head and looked at her, giving her an eye roll.

"That was the billionaire, Miles Maverick. Inviting me out to lunch."

"You sure are getting friendly with this billionaire."

"It pays to have friends in high places. I built a really good business connection with him and I have the possibility to work with all of the top 1-percenters."

"Be careful, I'm not entirely sure he's a man that you can trust."

"He's a friend that I can benefit greatly from. His connections are what I can benefit from. If I can get on well with him then I can get in with the other rich folks."

"All I'm saying is you should be careful."

"And I will." He said right before he walked over to his aunt and bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I always am." She smiled as she watched her nephew walk to his bedroom.

Cedric was finally walking down the street on his way to the cafe to have lunch with Miles Maverick. He was sporting black slim jeans with a pair of black suede Chelsea boots and a white and blue striped button-up. He had his watch on his wrist and his father's necklace around his neck under his shirt. He had his phone in hand looking down at his screen, trying to text Nancy. Ever since he left her apartment this morning, he had no luck getting in contact with her.

He was in the middle of texting her when his phone started to ring, seeing that it was Mikayla, making him smile as he swiped it right.

"I don't remember giving you my number."

"You didn't. Your aunt gave it to me."

"That woman is always trying to play matchmaker."

"Well, she could've matched you with someone worse."

"No, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. You, Mikayla, are perfect. It's just that right now I'm not sure I'm a guy that's good enough for you." And he failed to mention the fact that he was seeing someone right now. He just couldn't stand the thought of possibly hurting her, since it seemed like she was interested in him.

"Well, what do you mean?"

"Simply put, you're you. You're beautiful, sweet, nice, you're the perfect girl and I'm me. I got a lot of baggage. I don't want to get into it. I just don't-"

"Save it. You and I are two young people who are interested in each other, we just keep ignoring these signs. You and me, Friday night. What do ya think?"

"I think I can do that."

"Good, it's a date then. By the way, I'm not as perfect as you say I am. I have a lot of baggage too. Who knows, maybe we can be screwed up together." She joked, making Cedric chuckle.

"I would like that. Text me your address."

"Okay, see ya then. Bye."

"Bye." And with that Cedric heard a click as the phone call ended making him sigh. He just dug himself into a deeper hole. Women were always his weakness so to say. He had a history of always getting himself caught up. He didn't know how to say no to women. And he was having trouble saying no, especially to Mikayla. But what the hell was he gonna do about Nancy? That was the million-dollar question at the moment.

But his thoughts were cut off when he saw a plane in the sky. This plane was descending but it wasn't descending normally, it was descending rather quickly. Too quick and it seemed as if one of the turbines had caught on fire. He looked down at his wrist seeing that his lunch with Miles was only 5 minutes away. There was a very slim chance that he could save the plane and make it home to change and make it to lunch.

"Shit." He cursed as he pulled out his phone. He sent a quick text to the billionaire and looked around for the nearest alleyway. He turned down the alleyway and started to run down the alleyway to give himself a runway. It's been a minute since he's flown, roughly around 5 or 6 years so he might be a little rusty. He jumped up, getting a little bit of momentum.

He landed and kept on running before jumping again.

This time floating for a few seconds before landing again.

He kept running before jumping once again and this time, he was able to defy the laws of gravity and bolt up into the air. Cedric smiled as he flew into the air. He glanced down momentarily and could see the eyes of several civilians set on him. He smirked and looked up at the plane and bolted towards the plane.

Cedric flew towards the plane as it continued to pick up speed. He flew to the wing and grabbed a hold of the wing trying to stop the plane from spinning. The plane stopped spinning momentarily before it started to nosedive as he ended up tearing the wing of the plane off. He floated in the air, looking at the plane trying to come up with a game plan before flying through the wing as he started to fly even faster, picking up the speed he needed to get around to the front of the plane.

Cedric flew to the nose of the plane and grunted once he grabbed a hold of the plane.

"Shit." He cursed as he felt all of the weight of the plane. He peeked over his shoulder seeing they were approaching the ground real fast. He grunted as he felt his feet hit the ground and he pushed against the plane sending a shockwave through the plane. He dropped down to a knee before he slowly placed the plane down on the old, empty runway.

He slowly rose to his feet but kept his eyes on the plane just to make sure that it was okay. He felt something hot making him frown as he turned his head to look at his shirt seeing that it was all burned off, possibly coming from flying through the wing. He pulled the burnt remnants of his shirt off and discarded it off to the side.

He smiled as he floated over to the door before ripping it off the hinges and throwing it off to the side. He floated inside placing his feet down and looked out amongst the passengers. The smile remained on his face until his eyes set on his mother sitting in a seat next to a bald man. A frown slowly snuck its way onto his face as he saw her holding hands with the man.

So now he had to deal with his mother and what she would say about his crusade but also had to deal with the fact that supposedly there was a new man in her life. This day just kept getting better and better.

A/N: Ah shit, it's starting to get juicy. Cedric now has to deal with the fact that he can't seem to pick one woman to spend his nights with and has to deal with some family issues that he has partially created. It's getting good. The next chapter will be a continuation of the same day. And now Iron Man has been brought into play. If you guys remember, Iron Man started his journey in November of 2009. And that's the same time that Cedric starts his.

Anyway, onto the next one.

Later Guys and Gals!