Nick Fury POV
After fully looking over all the information, I turned my attention to Eta.
"In your opinion, since you've done the most research, which one do you think can fight Arsenal?" I asked.
"Neither of them," she said without hesitation. "Look, no offense, boss. I know you want to find a contingency for him, but let's just face it… There might not be one."
"Everyone has a weakness," Natasha said.
"True, everyone does have a weakness, with the sole exception of Arsenal," Eta replied. "Because unless we're in the business of finding his identity and threatening the people he loves, which I'm not going to do, I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. to help people, not threaten innocent civilians."
"That's not why they want to find out Arsenal's identity," Iota said, quickly defending us.
"Really? Because I thought that was always the plan," Eta shot back. "I mean, why else are we trying to figure out who this guy is? They need some kind of leverage. And what's the best way to control the world's strongest hero? His loved ones, of course."
"Enough, Eta," Iota said firmly.
Eta made a zipping motion across her mouth.
Then Iota looked over at me. "I'm sorry about her, sir. I'm sure you have your reasons for wanting to know who Arsenal is. He is a superpowered individual."
"Who saves dozens of lives basically every day?" Eta muttered under her breath, which all of us decided to ignore.
"It's fine," I said. "I need some time to look over these files. Everyone's dismissed except for Coulson, Natasha, and Clint."
"Cool beans. If anybody needs me, I'm about to be gloriously annoying, Fitz and Simmons," Eta said with a grin as she walked out of the room.
"You really need to stop messing with them," Iota said, rubbing her forehead with a tired expression as she followed after her.
"Oh, come on. You know it's funny watching those two blush," Eta called back.
Iota just sighed.
Maria was the last one to leave, quietly closing the door behind her. The moment it shut, Coulson, Natasha, and Clint all turned their attention toward me.
"So, what do you think about Eta's plan, sir?" Coulson asked. "Is this something you've wanted to do for a while?"
"Yes. The Avengers Initiative is something I've wanted to put together for years, but the Council never approved of the idea," I said. "But Eta's plan isn't the reason I asked the three of you to stay behind."
"Then what is it, sir?" Clint asked.
I leaned back slightly in my chair before looking at each of them.
"Iota and Eta… what do you think about them?" I asked.
"They're both good agents," Coulson said. "They've never failed a mission, whether they're working separately or together. Iota is very by-the-book. She usually follows orders to the letter."
"Usually?" I questioned.
Coulson sighed for a couple of seconds before answering. "There have been a few incidents where she was given direct orders, but ultimately ignored them."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because those orders involved abandoning or sacrificing her comrades to complete the mission. She never goes through with it… and somehow still manages to complete the objective anyway."
I nodded slightly. "What about Eta?"
"Like her sister, she's a good agent, but very different," Coulson began, trying to explain.
"She's not by-the-book at all," Natasha cut in. "But she's still extremely capable. Eta just moves to the beat of her own drum. Like Iota, she cares about the people around her and would never abandon her teammates. And even though she doesn't act like it, she's incredibly intelligent."
Natasha leaned back slightly in her chair.
"She's just too comfortable around people. Doesn't matter what your rank is, she'll still talk to you like you're an old friend."
"She's also completely okay with punching her superiors," Clint added.
A small smile appeared on Natasha's face at that.
"It was only one incident, sir," Coulson said quickly. "And I reprimanded her for it."
"If you don't mind me asking, sir," Clint said curiously, "why are you asking?"
"I don't fully trust them," I admitted.
Natasha's expression sharpened slightly.
"So you've noticed it too," she said quietly. "They're hiding something."
"Sir, I personally ran background checks on both of them. They're completely clean. There's no evidence whatsoever of any affiliation with Hydra," Coulson said quickly, coming to their defense.
"I know. I reviewed their files myself," I replied. "But I noticed something curious."
"What is it, sir?" Coulson asked.
"It seems like they don't have any personal lives. No internet presence, no Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, nothing. Tell me, outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., have either of them ever talked about friends, family, or relationships?"
The room fell silent as everyone thought about it.
"I don't think so, sir," Clint finally said. "But the same could be said about a lot of us. Besides the people in this room, nobody even knows I have a family."
"Yes, but your situation is different from theirs," I said.
"Sir, may I speak freely?" Coulson asked.
"Go ahead."
"Iota and Eta are probably the best rookie agents I've ever worked with. They complete missions with minimal casualties, they care about their fellow agents, and they constantly try to make S.H.I.E.L.D. better. I know you're under a lot of pressure right now with Hydra having infiltrated the organization, so you're understandably more suspicious than usual. Respectfully, of course."
I raised an eyebrow.
"But Iota and Eta have never shown a single sign of being Hydra. If they were, we'd probably all be dead by now—"
"I never said they were Hydra," I interrupted.
"What?"
"Not once did I say I suspected them of being Hydra. I said I don't fully trust them."
The room went quiet again.
"You think they're working for someone else," Natasha said.
"Who?"
"I'm not a hundred percent sure," I admitted. "It's just a feeling. I want the three of you to keep a close eye on them. If they do anything unusual, no matter how small, I want to know about it."
"Yes, sir," they all replied.
Ed POV
I was sitting on the couch at my place with Lena curled up against my side. We'd finished eating dinner a little while ago, something I'd cooked myself, and were now just relaxing and watching TV together.
"I could bring in the best chefs in the world to cook for me, and their food still wouldn't hold a candle to yours," Lena said with a satisfied smile.
"Well, I'm glad you're satisfied. I don't really get to cook for many people," I said. "Well, except for Ashley that one time."
Lena smiled softly. "Good, you shouldn't keep a talent like that hidden."
I chuckled. "So you're saying I should give up being mayor and open a restaurant? It would probably be successful," I said with amusement. "I could even hand the company over to Ashley. I'm sure it'd be in good hands."
That earned a laugh from her.
I loved hearing her laugh. It was one of my favorite sounds in the world.
"You know that's not what I meant," Lena said, still smiling.
"I know, but it's still a funny thought."
I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
She immediately cuddled even closer to me.
We'd already stopped pretending. There were no fake dates, no excuses, no misunderstandings anymore. We were actually together.
Honestly, I was still a little embarrassed about how long it had taken me to realize that.
When I finally figured out that Lena Luthor was genuinely dating me, she'd laughed for nearly two straight minutes.
And the worst part?
She had every right to.
I loved her, but looking back, I couldn't help wondering how I could have been that oblivious.
As we were cuddling on the couch, Lena suddenly pulled away. I looked at her in confusion.
She just stared at me with a smirk.
"Ed, I've been over here at least ten times already, and I've never seen your bedroom," Lena said.
"What?"
"Not once. I have no idea what your bedroom looks like. I don't know what color your walls are, how you've got your TV set up, or even how comfortable your bed is," she said suggestively.
My eyes immediately widened as I caught the hint.
"Then I guess we need to fix that," I replied.
Without wasting another second, I scooped her into my arms and stood up. Lena laughed the entire way as I carried her toward my room. Luckily, the door was already open, so I stepped inside and gently set her down.
The moment her feet touched the floor, both of us quickly took off our clothes and Lena wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a kiss.
A few moments later, my phone started ringing.
I glanced toward my pants where I'd left it, but Lena quickly grabbed my face and turned my attention back to her.
"If it's truly important, they'll call again," Lena said.
I couldn't argue with that.
We went right back to kissing, but a few moments later, my phone rang again. This time, I ignored it, hoping it wasn't anything serious.
Then it rang a third time.
With a frustrated groan, I reluctantly pulled away from Lena and reached for my phone.
"Somebody better be dying," I muttered as I answered. "Because if not, I'm going to kill him."
"Ed, it's me."
"Ashley?"
"Look, I don't know what you're doing right now, but you need to get to Omnitech immediately," she said, panic clear in her voice.
I instantly straightened up.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"What's wrong? What's wrong? One of our top scientists just turned himself into a freaking vampire!" she yelled.
"WHAT?!"
"And that's not even the worst part! To stop him from going on a rampage and slaughtering everyone in the building, another scientist activated some kind of bug suit and blasted him unconscious. They managed to restrain him and lock him inside a containment tube, but we have no idea how long it'll hold. Now get to Omnitech. Right. Now."
"Okay, okay. Give me a minute. I'll be there," I said.
The moment I hung up, I started pulling my clothes back on.
"Is everything okay?" Lena asked, concern filling her voice.
"Far from it, but I can handle this," I replied.
As I finished getting dressed, my eyes drifted back toward her for a moment.
"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing," I said with a grin. "Just trying to burn this image into my memory. No idea when I'm going to get the chance to see it again."
A smirk spread across her face.
"Hurry back, and you can do a lot more than just look."
I laughed.
"Believe me, I am extremely motivated to come back as soon as possible."
I quickly kissed her, then ran to my garage. Once I got my other head under control, I finally started using my brain and thought about what Ashley had said while I drove to Omnitech.
A scientist who had become a vampire and another one using a bug-like armor?
The only people she could be talking about were Jaime with the Blue Beetle armor and Morbius, somehow becoming the Living Vampire.
How the hell did Morbius become the Living Vampire? I thought my intervention would have stopped that. I guess I was wrong.
I'm just glad Jaime was there. Who knows how much damage Morbius could've caused if he hadn't been.
A couple of minutes later, I arrived at Omnitech and quickly made my way to Morbius's lab.
The moment I stepped inside, I saw Jaime in his Blue Beetle armor with Ashley behind him, both arm cannons aimed at Morbius. Standing between them was Bancroft, using her own body as a shield to protect Morbius from Jaime.
"What the fuck?" I said, immediately grabbing everyone's attention.
"I was supposed to be getting laid tonight, so I'm already in a bad mood. Right now, I want everyone to calm down and explain exactly what the hell is going on."
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AN: Sorry for not posting. I'm not dropping the story or anything, it's just my laptop was messing up, it is still messed up, but it's working.