40 40

After getting their answers they quickly excuse themselves... well Superman excused himself Batman just disappeared. How he accomplished this in the middle of the day was nothing short of spectacular.

I could worry about why they were so interested in what I know about Mars but honestly I was too tired to actually care. Stepping inside I decided to wait for any other visitors that would inevitably stop by today. Before I could even sit down Cortana popped into existence beside me she didn't say anything because she knew what she was going to say. Turning back around I answer the door yet again to find my supposed girlfriend.

Natasha: Hey honey I decided to stop by for a surprise visit

"Then come inside I'll have Cortana fetch us some snacks"

As the door closed behind us I had Cortona secretly close the hole in our security. Returning my attention back to Natasha I waited for to start talking.

Natasha: We found a lead on who else might have infiltrated Shield but since you were the one to discover the first we decided to confirm if we are correct.

"I'll be honest with you Natasha I only noticed backdoors built in Shield's system which is how I discovered them. I can't be certain of other groups as I haven't looked into it deeply"

Natasha: Then I guess this is more of a heads-up then... The first group other than Hydra is obviously the light. The fact that they were able to pinpoint exactly where we kept information on them showed their hand. The second group is the Cabal a recent discovery most likely leaked to us by one of the other groups. Lastly so far is the Hell fire club although they are not Hacking in but using political power to gather intelligence and direct shield.

"When the Grox meat is so infested the best thing to do is toss it to the masses"

Natasha: I would like to believe that you are speaking rhetorically so I am not going to dig deeper into what you said. As for Shield I totally agree unfortunately we can't just purge everything and start fresh

"Why not it's what we did in the Imperium rather than let a tumor fester isn't it better to cut it out?"

Natasha: And how would we do that? *sarcastically*

"Given your sarcastic tone I take it that a literal purge is off the table?"

Natasha: It was never on the table infact it's in a different building altogether

"Slow way it is then I could have M'Shen and her acolytes carefully start digging into the personnel starting with those at the in middle"

Natasha: The middle? Why start in the middle?

"The top is obvious everyone always tries to start there to try and clean house but most ignore those worker coggs. People tend to assume the guy at the top is leading the operation but only idiots with massive egos do so. If it were me I would be comfortable in the middle easily forgotten. Those on the bottom are usually disposable and unimportant those at the top believe they are in control but where do they get their information from"

Natasha: This sounds like you've done this before...

"I have in the past either against other highborn or enemies if it was a threat to myself or the imperium I used far worse tactics to see my enemies destroyed. Darker twisted tactics that would have me labeled as a war criminal and things that most sentients would see me burned alive for. I tell you this so you understand how far I am willing to go to protect humanity. In most eyes if they could truly see me they'd see a monster"

Natasha: You're not the only monster here I have done many horrible things as well.

"More than likely it wasn't your choice but I can't say the same so in my at least you could never be a monster especially because you regret it"

Natasha: Thank you for saying that and sharing your past a bit I know it must be difficult for you.

We continued to talk about various possibilities and threats. She seemed different than her usual self not in a noticeable way as nothing overtly changed. Her way of speaking and mannerisms remained the same but somehow it felt like there was a shift of some sort.