"You mean your director wants me to find Tony Stark?" Jack asked again.
"Yes, that's the mission," Natasha replied.
Jack felt a flicker of interest hearing it confirmed — but he didn't show it.
"So your director believes I can find Stark," he said, with a slight edge. "Someone your entire government couldn't locate for months."
"We don't know what he thinks," Natasha said, with a small smile. Then, almost casually, she added, "What we do know is that you've been operating across four states in the last two days. You're not hard to track, Mr. Omnix — just hard to catch."
Jack looked at her for a second without any reaction.
She was trying to remind him that they'd been watching him, that they'd always been monitoring him.
So they've had eyes on me this whole time.
Not bad, he thought. But it doesn't change anything.
He didn't answer. Just let the silence stretch while he thought it through.
Tony gets out on his own eventually — I know that. But Yinsen doesn't make it. That's the part that always stuck with me about that story. Guy saves Tony's life and doesn't get to see what comes after. If I move early, I change that. And Tony Stark owing me a favor is honestly worth more than anything SHIELD can offer me.
He made up his mind.
"I can find him," Jack said. "But I don't need your director's or anyone's approval to live here, so forget that part. I want something in return for the work."
Natasha hadn't expected him to agree so quickly, but she kept her expression steady. "I'm sure the director could arrange a financial reward," Clint offered.
"I don't want money." Jack's tone made it clear that wasn't even in the conversation. "Your organization has rare items. I want one — the Tesseract. The 0-8-4."
The air shifted. Natasha and Clint both went still at the same time. It wasn't just the request — it was the code. Knowing what the Tesseract was, anyone could guess at. But knowing the classification SHIELD used internally was something else entirely.
"I don't know how you know about the 0-8-4," Natasha said, carefully. "But items like that aren't decisions we can make out here. I need to contact the director."
"Then put me through to him directly," Jack said.
Natasha made the call. A face appeared on her tablet screen within a few minutes — one eye, sharp expression, not a single thing about him that looked like he'd ever been caught off guard in his life.
Natasha explained everything that had happened.
"Mr. Omnix." The voice was even and controlled. "My name is Nick Fury. Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." A short pause. "You can call it S.H.I.E.L.D."
Another brief pause.
"I've been wanting to speak with you for a while. Longer than you probably realize."
"Likewise, Mr. Fury," Jack said, keeping his tone level. "I assume Ms. Natasha filled you in on my terms."
"She did. The Tesseract isn't something I can hand over. Non-negotiable," Fury said, his face unreadable.
A brief pause followed before Fury added, almost lightly, "Though I am curious — how do you know our classification codes?"
Jack met his gaze, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "That's something for you to find out, Director."
Fury held his look for a second longer but didn't push further, clearly aware he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted from Jack.
The Tesseract was never realistic — but Jack still pushed it once more, watching for even the smallest shift in Fury's expression. There wasn't one. Same calm refusal. When it was clear that angle was going nowhere, he moved on without missing a beat, naming a few other things — Terrigen Crystals, a couple of others he'd been curious about. Fury shut every single one down.
"What's the problem?" Jack let a little impatience show. "You're rejecting everything. Do you want Tony found or not?"
"Mr. Omnix, everything you've named is either dangerous or critical to our operations. None of it is available," Fury said, just as firm.
"Then what can you give me?"
"This." Fury shared a list on screen.
Jack read through it. It wasn't terrible — but most of it was things he could get on his own without much trouble. He scrolled slowly, not rushing, checking each item properly.
Then he stopped.
Vibranium.
He hadn't expected Fury to include that.
Then he checked the quantity.
Twenty grams.
Twenty grams. That was it?
He kept his face still — but that number hit harder than any of Fury's rejections. That wasn't even enough to start with. He stared at it for a moment longer, doing the math in his head. Twenty grams was nothing — barely an amount he could do anything meaningful with. He'd been picturing something he could actually work with, and instead it was an amount that fit in the palm of his hand.
"I like the Vibranium," he said, keeping his voice even. "But I want more."
"Mr. Omnix." Fury's tone didn't change, but he leaned forward slightly. "What's on that list is already well beyond a standard reward. Vibranium is extraordinarily rare — we've spent years acquiring it in gram quantities. The amount I'm offering would run well over a hundred million dollars on the black market. I'm offering this to you as an ally. That's not a small thing."
Jack didn't fully believe Fury only had this much, but it was clearly rarer than he'd assumed.
"Understood, Mr. Fury. I just ask that it's delivered as soon as Tony is found."
"It'll be ready when the job is done."
"Then I'll be in touch. Two days." Jack glanced between Natasha and Clint. "See you around."
He jumped, caught a branch above him, and swung out over the tree line.
Twenty grams of Vibranium and Tony Stark's gratitude. Not the deal I planned — but probably the better one. And since I intentionally revealed that I know more about their SHIELD than they think, they're already wondering I got the information. He smiled at the thought.
He disappeared between the buildings without looking back.
The park went quiet.
Natasha stared at the space where he'd been for a second, then looked at Clint. Clint looked back at her. Neither of them said anything right away.
"He's gone, sir," Natasha said finally, turning back to the tablet.
Fury's expression hadn't shifted. He'd barely moved since Jack left the frame. When he spoke, his voice was quieter than before.
"I need you both to think carefully before you answer this. How did he know our classification codes?"
Silence.
Natasha didn't answer immediately. Clint shifted slightly beside her, but said nothing.
"He didn't just know what the Tesseract was," Fury continued. "He knew what we call it internally. He knew what we have in containment. That's not information you find in a newspaper." He let that sit for a moment. "Either his organization has capabilities we haven't accounted for — or someone inside gave it to him."
Neither Natasha nor Clint responded. The weight of what Fury was implying settled over them both.
"You think it's a leak," Natasha said. It wasn't really a question.
"I don't know. Either he has some way of getting information we don't understand… or there's a mole inside the organization we don't know about."
Fury's eye narrowed slightly, the pause stretching just enough to feel deliberate.
"Either way," he continued, quieter now, "I'm going to investigate it."
He didn't say anything after that — but the look on his face made it clear he was already treating it like a leak.
A/N:
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