Marvel: The Enlightened One#75+76: A Director with a Rebellious Streak, Nick Fury's Dangerous Game and a Weakened Hawk

Very long chapter!

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As an agency operating under the direct authority of the World Security Council—formed by the five global superpowers—S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed immense power.

Especially when dealing with nations outside of the big five, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s authority often superseded that of local law enforcement.

As for its authority within the five superpowers??

That was a more complicated story!

...

The moment the agent entered the license plate into the system, a flood of information appeared on the main screen.

The plate’s registered owner, their driving history.

In a matter of seconds, Gwen Stacy’s photograph was displayed in perfect clarity for the entire command center to see.

“Send that to Natasha.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ping.

Natasha’s phone chimed. She glanced at the photo that had just come through.

It was a picture of Gwen, smiling sweetly.

“Director, that’s her.”

“Hmph.”

Nick Fury nodded, his expression grim. “Run a search on her network. Find anyone by the name of Hawk.”

The agent began the search before Fury had even finished his sentence.

But—

Hawk social media accounts: none.

Hawk photos online: none.

Hawk driver's license: non-existent.

Aside from a few text-based records, there was nothing else.

Nick Fury’s brow furrowed. “Wrong person?”

“I don’t think so, sir.”

The agent turned to face Fury. “We ran the search through Gwen Stacy’s network. There’s only one possible connection. Hawk. Male, seventeen years old. Like Gwen Stacy, he’s a senior at Midtown School of Science and Technology. Based on the social media of other Midtown students, it’s suspected that he and Gwen Stacy are dating.”

Fury's voice was a low growl. "And there are no photos of him?"

“...No, sir.”

The agent, fearing he had been careless, ran the search again before confirming. “Director, this Hawk has no online presence. No social media accounts of his own. Logically, at seventeen, he should have a driver’s license, but there are no records for him in the New York DMV system.”

Well, now.

What kind of atypical high school student is this?

A slow, cold smile spread across Fury's face. "What do we have on Gwen Stacy?"

"Confirmed. Gwen Stacy, born May 21st, 1995. Father, George Stacy, Captain, NYPD..." The agent began rattling off the details from her file.

But he was cut off.

"Contact the S.H.I.E.L.D. command center in New York," Fury ordered. "Tell them to—"

“WAIT!”

Just as Fury was about to deploy a team, Maria Hill, who had been standing beside him, finally reacted. She cut him off, turning to face him with a deep frown. “Director, what are you doing?”

Nick Fury looked at her. “He needs to be contained!”

“We don’t even know who he is.”

“Which is why we’re sending a team...”

“No.”

“What?”

“I disagree.” Maria Hill met Nick Fury’s one good eye, her voice firm. “Until we have a clear intelligence profile on this Hawk, I will not authorize such a reckless operation.”

Is he insane?

This was the person who had killed the Hulk. To just go in blind, without any proper intelligence... what was he trying to do? Make an enemy of someone with that kind of power?

Hawk may have killed the Hulk, but from Hill's perspective, the situation was still manageable. If Natasha's report was accurate, he had done it for revenge.

The fact that he hadn’t killed Natasha or Bruce Banner meant he was a man of principle.

And principles were a good thing.

Principles meant he had lines he wouldn’t cross. It meant that even if he wasn’t an ally, he was, at the very least, neutral.

To charge in now, as Fury was suggesting, was just needlessly looking for trouble. It was practically manufacturing a powerful new enemy.

And so—

Maria Hill stood firmly against him. “We need to investigate first. Then we send an agent to make contact.”

“CONTACT???”

Nick Fury’s eye glinted. “Hill, he killed the Hulk. OUR HULK. That was a direct provocation. On that basis alone, he must be brought under strict control.”

With that, Nick Fury turned back to the agent. “Notify...”

“I said no!”

Maria Hill's expression was stone-cold as she addressed the agents who had stood up and turned to face them. “I am the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its acting Commander of Operations. Without my direct order, all actions targeting this individual, Hawk, are forbidden.”

The agents exchanged glances, then, as if remembering something, they all responded in unison.

“Yes, Commander.”

Maria Hill then turned back to Nick Fury, her expression severe. “Don’t forget, Director. Your operational authority is still suspended by the Council. Until they lift that suspension, all S.H.I.E.L.D. decisions are mine to make."

It was true.

Nick Fury had been grounded by the World Security Council.

The reason was simple: during the Battle of New York, he had defied a direct order. Did he really think he could ignore the will of the five great powers and face no consequences?

The decision to launch a nuclear strike on Manhattan during the Battle of New York earlier that year had been a unanimous resolution by the WSC, and the order to execute it had initially been given to S.H.I.E.L.D.

And the result?

The Director himself had led the charge in violating their resolution. He had even personally flown out and shot down one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own jets.

Unbelievable.

It was blatant insubordination. A treason.

So, even though the outcome had been favorable, from the WSC’s perspective, Nick Fury was clearly insubordinate to his core.

There was a saying.

Loyalty that isn’t absolute is no loyalty at all.

The Council’s initial decision had been to fire Nick Fury, to make an example of him and show everyone that S.H.I.E.L.D answered to the Council, not the other way around.

But someone had pleaded his case.

Nick Fury’s old friend—Alexander Pierce—was one of the five heads of the Council.

After much persuasion, Pierce had managed to convince the other four members to change their minds. In the end, they had decided to suspend all of Nick Fury’s operational authority, with Deputy Director and Commander Maria Hill acting in his stead.

As for when Fury’s suspension would be lifted?

That depended on his behavior.

And so far, the Council had shown no inclination to reinstate him. So while he was still, technically, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he was a figurehead, a mascot. He could observe, he could advise, but he had no authority to make a decision.

Hearing Maria Hill’s words, Nick Fury remembered his place.

His voice was a low growl. “This will make us look weak to our enemies.”

Maria Hill frowned. Just as she was about to respond, a surveillance photo flashed onto the main screen.

The agent who had been running the search blinked, then glanced at the source of the information. His eyes lit up, and he turned to Maria Hill.

“Commander.”

“Go ahead...” Maria Hill turned, her eyes drawn to the new photo. “Where did you find this?”

“It was just uploaded. New York University published its list of incoming scholarship students for next year. Hawk is one of them. I ran the photo from the announcement through our system.”

“And the location?”

“Quantico.”

As the agent spoke, his hands flew across the keyboard. With this first photo as a lead, more began to appear.

One by one, surveillance images of Hawk from Quantico Town were projected onto the main screen.

At the same time, Natasha, who had remained silent on the open line during the dispute between her superiors, finally spoke up. “Commander, I can confirm his identity.”

Maria Hill stared at the photo of Hawk wearing a baseball cap, a slight frown on her face.

“When was this taken?”

“July fifth.”

“...”

Hearing the date, Maria Hill’s frown deepened. She remembered something.

If she wasn’t mistaken, something major had happened in Quantico on that day.

A major security breach.

And sure enough, the data confirmed it.

The surveillance footage showed Hawk in Quantico Town on the day of the lockdown. But after the lockdown began, he had vanished from all cameras. The next time any record of him appeared, he was in Maryland.

It was almost certain that the chaos at the Quantico military base was connected to him.

...

Nick Fury, having received this new intelligence, turned to Maria Hill. “A man who brazenly attacks a military base, a murderer who has killed dozens of soldiers... and you still want to 'make contact'?”

Maria Hill met his gaze, her expression unreadable. “If you disagree with my decision, Director, you can file an appeal with the Council.”

With that, she turned away from him and addressed the agent. “Continue.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“...”

Nick Fury’s eye glinted. Without another word, he turned and walked out of the command center.

The moment he was back in his office, Nick Fury pulled out his phone, found the number of the old friend he had called to check on during the Quantico incident, and dialed.

Attacking the Quantico military base.

Brazenly murdering a member of the Avengers Initiative.

This was no longer a simple crime. This required a heavy hand.

Hawk had to be controlled.

Under his supervision!!

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Nick Fury didn’t believe he had done anything wrong.

If he hadn’t stopped that jet from taking off, if he hadn’t warned Tony Stark, a nuclear bomb would have detonated over New York City.

What would have become of the city then?

A wasteland?

A ghost town??

But, The Council didn’t care about any of that.

For them, it was black and white: I gave an order, and you didn't just disobey it—you led a full-scale mutiny. The fact that everything worked out didn't matter.

As far as the Council was concerned, merely suspending his operational authority instead of kicking him to the curb was an act of extraordinary mercy.

But Nick Fury didn’t see it that way. He had been looking for a way to get his authority back ever since.

And now, he saw his chance.

The Hulk was a member of the Avengers Initiative. Hawk brazenly killing him was a slap in the face to S.H.I.E.L.D., and by extension, a slap in the face to the Council.

The Council might not care about it now.

But that was only because the situation hadn’t escalated. If it did, who would they back? The pragmatic Commander Hill, who advocated for peaceful contact, or him, the man who insisted on strict control?

The answer was obvious.

As for who could escalate the situation for him, Fury already had the perfect candidate in mind, now that he knew Hawk was likely the same man who had caused the lockdown at Quantico.

Thaddeus Ross.

He was a dangerous man with powerful connections. Any other general would have been sidelined for good after the fiasco in New York with the Hulk and the Abomination.

But General Ross? He’d not only been unaffected, he’d arguably come out of it with a promotion.

It was basic political reality. The military-industrial complex had its champions, and Ross was one of their top generals. He was a complete hawk in the Republican party—a man who believed every problem could be solved by throwing enough firepower at it.

There was a quote from an old war anime that fit him perfectly:

Gentlemen, I love war!!

That line could have been tailor-made for General Ross. Others might be afraid to escalate a situation, but General Ross would relish the opportunity.

...

Soon, the call connected.

"Fury, I'm in the middle of—"

“The man who attacked your military base. Interested in making a deal?”

“...”

General Ross, who had been standing guard at home to prevent his daughter from sneaking out, froze. His expression turned grim. “YOU FOUND HIM?”

“We did. Interested?”

"...Your terms."

Ross was no fool. He wasn't about to agree to anything blindly.

Nick Fury leaned back in his office chair, his one good eye glinting with a deceptively simple cunning. “My operational authority has been suspended.”

General Ross laughed. Of course he knew—it didn't surprise him one bit. If this had been one of his soldiers, any subordinate who not only ignored orders but actively fought against them would've been dragged out and executed.

"Sorry, Fury—"

“He also killed the Hulk. Just this morning.”

“...Wait.”

General Ross, who had been about to mock Fury for his weak bargaining chip, froze.

The smile vanished from his face. “WHAT?”

“You heard me. The Hulk is dead. He killed the Hulk.”

“...”

Fury could hear the change in Ross's breathing over the line. The General was hooked. “Help me get my authority reinstated, and I'll give you the killer's identity. We'll run a joint operation. When we catch him, he'll be under our combined supervision, just like the Abomination. How does that sound?"

General Ross alone wasn’t enough to get his authority back. But the people backing Ross were. For them, it was a simple matter of making a phone call.

And it was a good deal for him, too.

Joint supervision. After the capture, Ross could run his studies, and S.H.I.E.L.D. could run theirs.

General Ross’s mind was racing as he processed the terms.

Absorbs gamma radiation.

Kills the Hulk.

If this information was true, it meant only one thing.

The attacker from Quantico was stronger than the Hulk, and far more in control of his power. He wasn’t some mindless beast like Bruce Banner became.

And if they could capture him, study him...

Then...

The more Ross thought about it, the more excited he became. But with that excitement came a cold, calculated caution.

“His name.”

“No, no, no.” Nick Fury laughed. “That’s not how a deal works. Reinstate my authority, and then we can have our joint operation.”

General Ross snorted.

“Does Maria Hill know about this?”

“She does.”

“Then why don’t I just work with her?”

“Because you won’t.”

Nick Fury wasn’t worried in the slightest. “You and Maria Hill don’t see eye to eye.”

Ross was silent. He knew Fury was right.

After a long moment, he said, "I need to think about it."

“Be my guest. But I’d make it quick. We don’t have much time before Maria Hill decides to make contact.”

“Give me thirty minutes.”

With that, General Ross hung up. He closed his eyes, his mind working at lightning speed.

Nick Fury listened to the dial tone, then hung up with a smile.

Ross would agree. He had no doubt.

But—

Never put all your hopes on one horse......

Nick Fury’s eye once again gleamed with that strange, cunning light. His mind raced, and then an idea struck him. He opened his computer and pulled up Gwen Stacy’s file.

He stared at the photograph of Gwen on the screen, and the glint in his eye became darker... and far more reckless.

...

Meanwhile, Gwen had just helped Hawk back to his apartment in Queensbridge Park.

Thump.

After settling the weakened Hawk onto the sofa, Gwen straightened up, grimacing as she pressed her fist against her lower back.

Leaning back on the sofa, Hawk saw this and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Gwen, who had been stretching, her back still to him, froze.

"..." The laugh had been a little too strong, a little too full of energy...

She slowly turned around, her back still to him, and her suspicious gaze fell on Hawk—who, despite his supposedly weakened state, now had a healthy color back in his cheeks.

Gwen’s expression became strange, and a little dangerous. “Hawk?”

Hawk cleared his throat, his voice suddenly becoming weak again. “Cough... cough, cough, what’s wrong?”

Gwen’s eyebrow shot up. Her voice rose several octaves. "HAWK!"

It was the tone she used when she was serious. The one that meant she was about to call him out on his bullshit.

“You’re fine now, aren’t you? You’re just pretending!”

“No, it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it, don’t talk nonsense.”

Hawk’s denials were immediate and reflexive.

Gwen smiled.

The next second, she spun around and marched toward the door. Without a moment’s hesitation.

Shit. I overplayed it.

Leaning on the sofa, Hawk cursed internally. His figure blurred, vanishing from the sofa and reappearing in front of the apartment door, blocking her path.

Gwen stopped, stunned, then looked up at him. “Move.”

“No.”

He might not be a master of emotional intelligence, but he knew when to stand his ground. If he let her walk out that door now, he'd be in the doghouse for weeks.

Gwen’s face tightened with cold fury. “Do you think it’s funny to lie to me, Hawk?”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Hawk admitted his mistake without hesitation, then added, “But I wasn’t really lying. I really was weak when we were driving back.”

It was the truth. When he’d first gotten out of the lake, another Chitauri soldier probably could have been enough to knock him into his rebirth cycle.

Hawk looked at Gwen. “But I fell asleep in the car and recovered a bit. I was going to tell you, but... seeing you so worried about me, helping me upstairs... I was happy. So...”

Listening to his explanation, the frost on Gwen’s face slowly began to thaw. She glanced at him. “So what??”

“I didn’t want you to let go of me,” Hawk said it with a dead-serious expression.

Hearing his reason, the last of the anger on Gwen’s face melted away, replaced by a faint blush.

Then, as if remembering something, she rolled her eyes at him.

“Idiot...”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“So, are you still weak now?”

“Not wea—”

“Hm?”

“Weak? Yes, weak!”

Hawk watched her expression, found the correct answer, and nodded emphatically, his voice becoming frail once more.

Gwen had to fight back a smile. She kept her face straight, rolled her eyes again at the “weakened” man before her, and stepped forward, taking his arm as if he were about to collapse.

“If you’re so weak, you should be in bed. Come on, I’ll help you.”

“Okay.”

“Careful. Take your shoes off.”

“Gwen.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you lie down with me for a bit?”

“What?”

“Just for a bit. You know... I’m really weak right now.”

“Just for a bit?”

“Yeah.”

“...Alright.”

“Wait, what are you do—”

“Aah!”

“...”