Chapter 17 - Demands for SHIELD

Hello, dear readers! Here's Chapter 17 slightly later than I previous planned. I wasn't able to write anything this weekend, so I couldn't release this chapter before.

Also, I'm gonna stop adding the paragraph at the beginning of each chapter (The one which the last of the previous chapter), because some binge readers among you complained about it, and since I don't really care either way, here we are.

I've also changed the name of my original novel, since I noticed that it didn't really help people know what it's about.

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Enjoy the read! :)

If you wish to read a similar type of novel, I'm writing an original novel in my own created universe: The Knight's Multiverse.

A quick sum-up here: Damian Knight was a guy who did not like the way his life was going (his job being the worst part of it), until a call from his mother made him decide to turn his life around. Unfortunately, as Damian almost reached his apartment, he witnessed his neighbor and her daughter being held at gun point by a maniac. He thus fought the man and even killed him accidentally. However, he also got shot in the stomach, making him bleed to death. After his death, he met a powerful entity granting him three perks before he was sent to reincarnate. When he regained consciousness, he noticed that he actually had been reincarnated for 18 years, but only now did he regain his memories while his perks were also finally activated. Having a new name, a new family and some powerful perks, what choice will he make?

[If you want to find it, click on my name and you'll arrive on my profile. Then click on Original works and you'll find this novel and my original one.

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Queens, NYC, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

Turning around, he started walking toward May and Madeline, the former instructing. "Peter and MJ, go set the table. The food is almost done." The two children were used to it, so they did not protest. Even Gayle went to help them. Since she was quite small, it was more of a 'psychological' help than anything else. After all, her little chubby hands could not really hold much, so it was not her fault. She was cute, and in Ben's books, it was enough.

While the kids were 'toiling', the adults briefly discussed what they would need to take care of for their quickly approaching move, mostly about their current jobs and the process they needed to follow to quit. "There's no need to get worked up about it. We don't even know for sure when the safe house will be available." Ben reminded.

Madeline and May nodded, while the former said. "Let's just wait for the meeting." After making up their mind, they went to the kitchen to get the food, Benjamin and Mady assisting May with setting it on the table. After everything was ready, both the children and adults sat down and started eating.

The lunch went by amidst the varied discussions and laughter of the people present. Once they were finished, everyone helped with clearing the table and doing the dishes, the whole thing being done in no time, after which the children went to play upstairs, while the adults went to sit on the sofa in the living room, prolonging their chat.

After less than an hour, the doorbell sounded again. Checking the time on his wristwatch, the silver-eyed man said. "2 p.m.! It's probably Nat and Clint. I'll go get the door." However, before he could stand up, his wife pushed him down lightly and declared. "No need. I'll go get them. I'm very curious about your former colleagues."

Nodding with a smile, he replied. "Sure." To which she stood up, walked toward the door, and opened it quickly. As the sofa he was on was turned toward that particular direction, Ben could see a tall redhead woman and an even taller blond man at the entrance, the two wearing nondescript clothes that would help them blend in the crowd.

Scrutinizing the two unknown faces, he could nonetheless guess their true identities. What was impressive though was the flawlessness of their disguise, whether the faces or the voices, it all felt and sounded natural. 'It's very intriguing.' He thought, perplexed at the prowess needed to deceive his current senses.

After a standard greeting, May let them in and closed the door behind them. As the silver-eyed man was about to greet them in turn, he noticed the curvaceous woman taking out a device from one of her pockets. Once she pushed the button, the two guests grabbed something on the side of their face before pulling it out completely, taking off what was clearly an impressive masking device.

"Much better!" The 'unknown' woman said. "I really can't get used to having that thing on my face all day. At least I don't have to wear it often." The 'unknown' man added in exasperation. Looking at the unveiled faces of the two people in front of him, Ben could not help but have a smile appear on his face, while a greeting left his lips. "Hey Nat, Clint. How're you doing today?"

Turning their gaze toward the man sitting on the sofa, the two had a similar expression of delight appear on their faces, responding. "Hey, Ben." "Parker! I'm glad to see you, brother." Chuckling at their cheerful greetings, Ben signaled them to sit on the other sofa, while May sat beside him and Madeline sat beside her.

"By the way, what's up with the masks? And the device you just used?" He asked, curious. A knowing grin on her face, Natalia replied. "I was sure you'd have asked. The masks are called Photostatic Veils. They're a blend of holographic technology and nano-technology. Those babies are very useful to infiltrate places or simply disappear." Curious, May commented. "That sounds scary..."

Nodding in assent, the redhead replied in a serious tone. "They are. That's why you can't completely trust what you see. Anyone around you could have that kind of device." Frowning at that prospect, May fell silent. Noticing her worries, Ben took her hand and said in a comforting voice. "Don't forget that you'd spot anyone disguising as me, Love."

Pausing for a second, he added with a smile. "And I'd do the same." Looking at the glint of realization in her eyes, he knew that she understood his meaning. The two agents nodded to his statement, which turned out to be the two misunderstanding them when Clint explained. "Ben's right. Unless the person wearing it knows and uses all of you guys' mannerisms, it shouldn't be too difficult to find out the truth."

Although his comment was not wrong, it was not what the couple had in mind. Nonetheless, they both decided to keep the truth to themselves. 'No need for them to know.' He thought as he listened to Clint's explanation, before asking about the mysterious device the woman used when she entered his house.

"It's a kind of jammer." She answered, before Clint added, a small chuckle escaping him. "It's a bit stronger than that." Rolling her eyes at his interruption, she continued. "I was about to explain before you cut me off. Anyway, it jams any recording device in a certain radius. It also keeps the sounds inside that same radius, so that no one outside can hear it."

Cocking his eyebrow, Ben commented. "Sounds amazing." "Right! It's thanks to all that alien tech that SHIELD got a week ago from the Chitauri's corpses. We've got a few toys to play with." Clint replied before Natalia added. "Stark got his hand on a certain quantity of that tech and he's been making a bunch of interesting things. Among them was that jammer."

His curiosity satiated, Ben finally decided to broach the main subject. "Why don't we talk about why you two are here today? We'll have time for some small talk afterward." At his words, the atmosphere turned slightly more serious. "Like I mentioned earlier on the phone, I agree to join SHIELD and the Avengers, but I have some requirements."

Switching to her 'professional persona', the redhead replied. "Shoot!" "First, I need a safe house for my family and I. We can't stay here. It's too risky." Nodding her head, she retorted while the blond beside her stayed silent. "Consider it done." Satisfied with her answer, he continued with the rest of his requirements, this time not stopping to wait for her answer.

"I want to bring Madeline here and her two girls. With how close they are to us, they'd probably be in danger too. Second, I want a specialized training room in the basement of the future safehouse. With my new strength, I can't go to a normal gym anymore. It wouldn't be appropriate anyway." The rest was mainly miscellaneous things such as salary, a workshop, etc.

Once he shared all of his criteria with her, Ben fell silent, letting her ponder on the feasibility of his demands. After a relatively short time, she estimated. "I think we can do all that. But it'll take some time. Meaning you guys will probably have to move to a temporary safe house first before switching to the permanent one." Pausing for a brief moment, she added. "Of course, I still need to check with Fury first. But your demands are reasonable, so he should be okay with it."

Smiling at her answer, Ben then replied. "Perfect then. I'll also need a way to contact you guys securely. I'm pretty sure SHIELD can provide that, right?" Grinning back at him, Nat retorted. "Of course. Actually, all of you will have to ditch any unsecured electronics. Can't have you be tracked down because of a random Facebook post you made when you were bored."

Chuckling at her answer, the silver-eyed man asked. "That sounds oddly specific. Something like that happened to you before?" Shaking her head with a smile laced with schadenfreude, she gestured toward Barton's direction with her head and added. "Not to me."

Briefly rubbing his face in apparent frustration at some unknown recollection, Clint sighed and explained. "Alright, I'll tell you the story. One of the stupidest ones that happened to me. I can't give you names, but there's no need anyway." As the man started to recount his absurd story, the others, besides the female agent, were hanging onto his every word, their faces switching from disbelief to stupefaction followed by hilarity.

As he finished, the three started laughing heartily for a moment before slowly stopping, with Ben saying. "You're telling us that the rich guy you were supposed to protect from one of his competitors almost died because he sent a DM to that guy?" Nodding, Clint chuckled wryly. "Right! That moron was safe and sound in a SHIELD safehouse, but he had to taunt the other guy with a. fucking. DM! What the fuck?! I don't even have the words."

May muttered in disbelief. "How can someone be so dumb?" Despite staying silent, Mady's face made it apparent that it was a shared feeling. To her question, the blond man replied. "Believe me, he's only one among many. Simply because they've got some money and/or influence, many think they can do whatever they want without any consequences. Ask Nat. As a female agent, she's got it a lot worse than me." 

As the other two women turned their gaze toward the youngest redhead in the room, Ben noticed a bit of struggle in her eyes, quickly hidden behind a mask of exasperated indifference. "Yes. Between perverts and morons, the two not being mutually exclusive, it's hard being a female spy. You've got to make sacrifices. At least if you're too weak."

Those words were followed by a brief silence, the latter broken by Natasha clapping her hands once while saying in a cheerful voice. "Anyway, let's not waste time on those boring stories. Instead, I'm dying to know more about you May. Since you're that big oaf's wife, you can call me Nat. That goes for you too, Madeline."

Looking a bit overwhelmed by the woman's enthusiasm, May nonetheless fell into Nat's rhythm and the two started sharing stories about themselves and Ben, while Mady intervened from time to time to comment, being her ever-guarded self with strangers. She seemed slightly more open than usual, though. At least from Ben's observation.

After preparing coffee for everyone, the silver-eyed man let the woman chat together, while he chose to talk with Clint, reminiscing about some of the missions they had done together, some of the funny things that happened during them, etc. Of course, Ben did not forget to ask him more about his wife and children, while Barton did the same to him.

Only a few hours later, did the blond man notice the time and inform the Parkers and co. that Nat and him had to leave. "We'll talk with Fury and let you know by tonight how it'll go for you guys." He said before Nat added, chuckling. "Here's the secured phone you'll need to use from now on." While the words left her mouth, the woman handed him an average-looking smartphone.

Being evidently surprised, May commented. "It's very... normal looking..." Knowing why she was disappointed made Ben chuckle. He however stayed silent, unlike Natalia who asked, curious. "What do you mean?" "I mean... I was expecting something more... I don't really know how to explain it. Not that though." 

Finally understanding what the raven-haired woman meant, the youngest redhead explained with a knowing smile. "Ah! I got you. But no. It can't be flashy. After all, the goal is to be discreet, not obvious. Plus, it's just a smartphone, so as long as it works as intended, then there's no need for it to look like a fancy gadget."

Looking a bit reluctant, May however nodded in assent, a small pout on her face. Seeing her current adorable look, Ben could not help but pull her against his chest, with his arms around her, while a few teasing words left his lips. "Belle, your inner nerd is coming out." Making the woman blush as she clearly understood what he meant, prompting her to bury her face against his chest to hide her embarrassment.

Chortling at her reaction, he turned his gaze toward the two agents before saying. "We'll be waiting for your news. It was great to see you again, by the way." Laughing along with his good friend, Clint agreed. "You're right. We need to do it again. I'd offer to do it at my place, but it's a bit too far from New York." Her gaze trained on May's position for a second, Nat turned back her gaze toward Ben's face before saying with a smile that looked slightly strained. "Alright, we'll see you guys around then."

After putting back on their nano-masks and turning off the jammer, they left the house, leaving the three adults alone with their own thoughts.