Chapter 14: Fury’s Fury and The Coordinates to Xandar

It was an unusually sunny afternoon in Malibu when Nick Fury stormed into Tony Stark's sprawling villa, his single eye burning with frustration. The moment he stepped into the entrance hall, the automatic doors hissing shut behind him, he was greeted by Tony's usual carefree smirk as the billionaire leaned casually against the stair railing.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite one-eyed overlord," Tony greeted with a laugh, his arms folded as if this meeting was the highlight of his day.

But Fury wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"You think this is funny, Stark?" Fury snapped, his voice echoing through the spacious room. "You hacked into SHIELD again—again—and this time, you even had the nerve to mess with my private PC!"

Tony's grin widened. "You gotta admit, it was a little funny."

Fury's face darkened. "No, it wasn't."

"I disagree," Tony replied, pushing off the railing and walking toward the living room. "I thought the videos were pretty entertaining. Jarvis put a lot of work into those."

Fury's mouth twitched in anger, but before he could respond, the large flatscreen in Tony's living room lit up, and an animated video began to play. Fury's cartoonish likeness, complete with a ridiculously oversized eyepatch, was seen standing on the deck of a pirate ship, waving a cutlass in one hand while singing a jaunty pirate song. The Fury caricature belted out the lyrics:

"I'm Captain Fury of the SHIELD!

With one eye, I'll make you yield!

Agents, obey my command,

Or you'll walk the plank on the beachy sand!"

The cartoon Fury proceeded to sword fight an equally exaggerated animated Tony Stark, complete with a flamboyant pirate hat and parrot. The video looped, with Tony laughing every time Fury's caricature did an exaggerated eye roll or shouted orders.

Fury's scowl deepened. "Stark," he growled, his voice low and dangerous, "if you don't stop this nonsense, I'm going to make sure the next time you step into SHIELD, we have a cell waiting with your name on it."

Tony, still chuckling, threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll tell Jarvis to tone it down... eventually. But first, I need two things from you."

Fury's eyebrow shot up in disbelief. "You have the nerve to ask for favors after this?"

Tony leaned in, unbothered by Fury's anger. "Oh, it's nothing big. First, I want all the stuff SHIELD took from my father's projects. All of it. Blueprints, prototypes, anything you've got locked up. I'm sure SHIELD's been hoarding it long enough."

Fury folded his arms. "Fine. You can have your old man's junk back. But what's the second thing?"

Tony's smirk returned, but this time it was more serious. "I need the coordinates to Xandar."

Fury's face stiffened in surprise. His eye narrowed, and for the first time since walking in, he fell silent, staring at Tony as if trying to figure him out. "Xandar?" Fury asked slowly. "And how exactly do you know about Xandar?"

Tony shrugged, trying to play it off. "I've got my sources."

Fury frowned, clearly unconvinced. "If you think some alien group reached out to you, I'll tell you right now—that's not how it works. They don't just drop their coordinates into the laps of Earthlings."

Tony sighed, realizing this wasn't going to be as simple as he'd hoped. "It wasn't aliens, Fury. I just... need the coordinates, okay?"

Fury crossed his arms, his mind working through the puzzle. "Xandar isn't exactly on the list of places you can find on a star map. That's a whole different galaxy you're talking about—the Andromeda galaxy. So I'll ask again, Stark: why do you need to know about Xandar?"

Tony hesitated. Fury wasn't stupid, and the fact that he'd brought up Xandar would raise questions. Tony quickly realized that the best way to deflect the conversation wasn't to give Fury more, but to keep it vague.

"Information," Tony replied, keeping his voice steady. "We want to know what's going on out there. Maybe we'll make contact. Maybe not. But you're Nick Fury. I figured you'd have a connection."

Fury's eye flicked up, studying Tony with the intensity of someone trying to decipher a puzzle with missing pieces. He was silent for a few moments, his mind clearly running through different scenarios. After a long pause, he leaned forward, resting his hands on the back of the couch.

"We?" Fury asked, his tone suddenly sharp. "You and Max?"

Tony tensed, caught off guard by the mention of Max's name. "What does Max have to do with this?"

Fury's lips curved into a humorless smile. "Come on, Stark. I know about your son. You confirmed it yourself when you changed his name to Max Stark a few days ago."

Tony blinked, not expecting Fury to have gotten that information so quickly. He cursed himself inwardly for underestimating SHIELD's reach. "Alright," Tony admitted, "yeah, Max is involved. But I'm the one asking for the coordinates."

Fury didn't seem convinced. "And what exactly are you and Max planning to do with this information?"

Tony crossed his arms, a slight edge to his voice. "We're not planning anything. We just want to know what's out there. Call it... curiosity."

Fury stared at Tony for a long, tense moment, as if trying to weigh the truth of his words. Then, with a sigh, Fury stood up straight and shook his head. "Xandar is in the Andromeda Galaxy. The coordinates are... difficult to come by, but I know someone who can help."

Tony's eyes lit up with curiosity. "And how do you know the coordinates?"

Fury tapped his ear, a sly smile on his face. "Let's just say I've got some friends. They can get me the coordinates. You'll have them by the end of the day."

Tony let out a breath of relief, leaning back in his chair. "Good. Then you'll finally get rid of those cartoon videos popping up on your screen."

Fury gave him a hard stare. "You better be serious about that."

Before Tony could respond, Fury tapped his communicator and called in a SHIELD agent. Moments later, a young, professional-looking agent stepped into the villa, handing Fury a piece of paper. Fury scribbled down a series of numbers and symbols and passed the slip to Tony.

"There," Fury said gruffly. "Those are the coordinates to Xandar. But consider this the last favor I do for you, Stark. And if I find out you're meddling with things you shouldn't be, I won't be so lenient next time."

Tony pocketed the paper with a grin. "Don't worry, Nick. We're just keeping things... interesting."

Fury scowled but said nothing more as he turned and walked out of the villa, his coat billowing behind him as he disappeared into the Malibu sunshine.

Later that day, Nick Fury sat in his office, leaning back in his chair as he stared at the file in front of him. Tony's request had set off alarm bells in his mind, and now that he had a moment to think, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Why were Tony and Max so interested in Xandar? Fury's instincts told him there was more to this than just curiosity. He drummed his fingers on the desk, his thoughts swirling, when a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in," Fury called out, his voice low.

The door opened, and Bobbi Morse, one of SHIELD's top field agents, stepped into the room. Tall, athletic, and with the sharp, no-nonsense demeanor of someone who had seen more than her fair share of missions, Bobbi crossed the room and stood in front of Fury's desk.

"Director," she greeted him with a nod.

Fury gestured toward the chair. "Sit. I need an update on Max Stark."

Bobbi sat down, pulling out a tablet with a detailed report. "Max is... interesting," she began. "From what we've observed, he's a complete loner at school. Keeps to himself, no close friends, but he's polite enough with the other students. He's in the middle of his final exams and is set to graduate early—next week, in fact."

Fury nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

"Outside of school, it's like he doesn't exist," Bobbi continued. "He goes straight home to his apartment, stays there for hours, and only leaves to buy food or go back to school. We've had surveillance in place, but..."

"But what?" Fury asked, his tone sharp.

Bobbi frowned, clearly frustrated. "It's weird. We've planted multiple listening devices in his apartment, but every time Max comes home, the devices in his bedroom immediately short-circuit. And the other devices—cameras, microphones—they don't pick up anything unusual. It's like he vanishes once he's inside."

Fury leaned back in his chair, his eye narrowing. "He's hiding something."

Bobbi nodded. "That's my guess. We just haven't figured out what yet."

Fury sat in silence for a moment, his fingers drumming on the desk again. Max Stark was proving to be more of an enigma than Fury had anticipated. And now, with this sudden interest in Xandar, the situation had become even more complicated.

"Keep digging," Fury said finally. "I want to know everything about him. No detail is too small. And if you find anything... out of the ordinary, I want to know immediately."

Bobbi nodded and stood up. "Understood."

As she left the office, Fury turned his chair toward the window, staring out at the city below. Whatever Tony and Max were up to, he had a feeling it was bigger than either of them realized.