Seeing the shocked expressions Jack thought to himself — it seems they believed him.
"Mr. Four Arms — I am not saying I don't believe you, but do you have any proof that you are an alien and not some experiment by a scientist?"
"I don't need to show you any proof." He looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression.
Natasha held her ground. She believed it about eighty percent. There had been rumours about him being alien but she had always dismissed those as conspiracy theories. Seeing an actual alien standing in front of her was still something else entirely.
She looked at his four arms and four eyes.
He really did look like an alien.
"Then what are you doing on Earth?" she said. "Are you gathering information? Planning something? As the first alien to come to Earth—do you have a mission?"
She didn't wait for an answer, firing questions one after another.
Jack looked at her like she had said something funny.
"Hey. Don't make me laugh. Earth is nothing special. It is a remote planet." His tone had a light mockery to it. "And who told you I am the first alien to come here? I don't know — maybe aliens were visiting before you humans were even born here. Earth's location is not a secret among aliens."
Natasha absorbed that quietly. The information landed heavier than she expected. For a moment the world felt a little stranger than it had this morning.
"Then why are you here helping people?" she said. "I don't believe you do it out of kindness. Even humans don't help people from other countries that easily. Why would an alien?"
"Hey. Don't compare us to humans." His voice wasn't angry, just flat. "Humans have good and bad. We have good and bad too."
He paused for a second.
"I belong to an organization called the Plumbers. We are something like a space police — we help civilizations."
"Plumbers?" Natasha kept her expression neutral but somewhere in the back of her mind she noted that aliens apparently had very poor naming sense.
"This planet falls under my jurisdiction," Jack continued. "That is why I am here. I am also a new Plumber so I was a little inexperienced at first. That is all. I was assigned to this remote planet."
He stopped there.
The more he talked the more chances there were to make mistakes. And the mystery of an unknown organization spanning the galaxy was enough to make them think twice about taking any action against him. He could see it already in her expression.
"Sir — this is a significant matter. I cannot handle it alone. Would you be willing to meet with my director?"
"Some other time. I am busy today." He looked at her for a moment. "See you later, Miss Natasha."
With that he jumped into the sea and was gone.
The agents nearby stood still for a second.
"Ma'am — do we track him?"
Natasha watched the water where he had gone in. It was already still.
"No. It will only make things worse. Let the director handle this." She turned back to the group. "And none of what happened here tonight leaves this team. Nothing gets leaked."
She looked out at the quiet harbor for one more second.
"After this I need a long vacation."
A few kilometers out in the sea Jack in human form was swimming with a mask on, moving steadily through the dark water.
Thank god they believed it. If they had tried to follow me I would have been caught for sure.
Recharge complete.
Good. Let's get out of here — it is really cold. I hope I don't catch a cold tomorrow.
He reached for the dial without slowing his stroke and clicked it over to the first form in the rotation. The one he had unlocked first. The one he hadn't used much since.
Green light filled the water around him briefly.
A small fish-like body cut through the harbor current with effortless speed, moving toward the distant shoreline far faster than any human swimmer could manage.
Walkatrout.
Perfect for the sea.
In the SHIELD headquarters Nick Fury was listening to the report on a video call with Natasha.
"That is everything, sir. I have sent all the information and recordings to you."
"Good work, Natasha."
A pause.
"About your vacation—" He watched her expression shift slightly before he finished. "We still don't have the full picture on this alien. Keep the line open. Talk to him again when you can."
Her face changed.
Seeing her angry face Nick ended the video call.
He stood up slowly and walked to the window, looking out at the city below. The lights spread out across the dark in every direction.
"Is there an organization called the Plumbers somewhere in this universe?" he asked quietly.
He turned toward the green figure on the screen for an answer.
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 10 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here:
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