Chapter 39: Arc 1: Chapter 36: Kindness

Merlin, who had finally achieved some peace, sat on a train; it was midnight.

He wore a thin leather jacket, black gloves, and a cowboy hat covering his face; he sat by the window seeming to be resting.

There was a traveling bag by his feet, and by his hand was a bottle full of water. He seemed like your average tourist who was tired from his travels.

The entire car was silent, as most of the passengers were sleeping; the few who were still awake remained silent.

This train was heading towards Central America, its destination was Madison County of Wisconsin.

After traveling across the country, he decided to return to where it all first started.

He has not thought of what he was going to do, nor does he know what lies ahead of him; but after experiencing so much, he decided to face his feelings and go back to take a look.

To see dad, mom, and Phil, albeit they don't remember him.

"Kack"

The door into the train car opens, and a man holding a briefcase enters.

He walked steadily towards the sleeping Merlin. And as he approached him, the left hand of the seemingly sleeping Merlin gently moves and quietly holds the combat knife in his boot.

His target was him...this much he could feel.

But to Merlin's surprise, is that he didn't attack.

In fact, he openly walks and sits on the passenger seat across from Merlin; he places his briefcase by his feet and takes off his hat and sunglasses, then he reaches out and knocks on the table.

As if he were greeting him.

Merlin takes off the cowboy hat covering his face and sits straight, he looks at the person sitting opposite to him.

It was a black man with a strong build, he had short hair, sharp eyes that seemed to belong to an ex-soldier, and cold temperament. He had a bandage on his forehead, it seemed to be covering a recently fixed-up wound.

The wound that shouldn't be there made his cold temperament somewhat silly.

He looked at Merlin, Merlin looked back.

"Do I know you? Sir?"

Merlin asked.

"No, you don't."

The man shrugs and replies:

"But I'd known you, for two years now."

He takes something out of his pocket and places it on the table.

It was a paragraph cut from a newspaper, it looked slightly yellow from aging; it was about the Chicago Explosion that happened two years ago.

It was indeed something Merlin had caused two years ago.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Nick Fury. I am a senior agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and I've been following your trails, Mr. 89094, or should I call you...Merlin?"

Nick Fury looked at Merlin's posture and shakes his head, his tone was calm:

"Move your hands off the knife, Merlin. I came here alone as a sign of goodwill and to express my sincerity."

"We knew of your battle with the Winter Soldier on the outskirts of Oakland, in fact, the wound on my forehead was from that night; I went there to help you and lost 7 good men there, even I had almost died from the explosion."

"You've been tracking me?"

Merlin lets go of the knife handle and adjust his posture; he looks at Fury and asked:

"Why? I should've been a nobody surrounded by misfortune back then."

"Because it is our duty to do so, Mr. Merlin."

Fury explains:

"The S.S.R. is a Defence Organization, first built during WWII, we helped Captain America Steve Rogers in beating the Na*is. After WWII, we collected a number of dangerous items from Germany that should not be released unto the world."

"Since then, the S.S.R. had dedicated itself to two duties, aside from protecting our people, we've been searching for dangerous items from across the globe, and containing them for safety precautions."

"This includes dangerous supernatural objects and scientific inventions that should not be leaked, the green bell you encountered in Chicago, for example. Even the blueprints for making the 'gravity bomb' the Winter Soldier used."

"Of course, including some dangerous supernatural beings."

Fury glances towards Merlin, then he spoke with a meaningful tone:

"This world is not as simple as it appears to be, under the idea of order lurks many unknown powers. Mutants, inhumans, and other special beings, phantoms, devils, demons, and even aliens with bad intentions; you've seen a part of the real world, even participating in it and becoming one of them."

"This is why we began tracking you, Merlin. Do you really think, that the authorities would let someone like you walk in their city without worries?"

Merlin nods at Fury's explanation, it was sound logic.

Any government would not allow an uncontrollable variable into normal society, after knowing the existence of supernatural existences, it was logical for them to found an organization specified for those variables.

One thing Merlin was curious about, was the organization's aim.

He asks straightforwardly:

"So, what are you going to do with me? Mr. Fury?"

"Catch me and throw me into prison? Or find some way to erase me for good? Or even make me a lab rat for some crazy scientist?"

Merlin's question was not positive, but Fury answered with ease; he knocks on the table and says:

"Neither."

"We'll provide you with a job, a job away from regular citizens, a job as one of us. If you reject our proposal, we'll offer you a new identity, a house in some safe area, a new life; that is, if you agree to live under our watch. This is...yes, safety measures."

He looks at Merlin and says:

"Of course, that is for later. Since you've just dealt with the most ruthless, most dangerous mad killer of the last era, I think, between me and you, we can sit down and have a calm, relaxing talk, right?"

Merlin did not reply, he instead made a 'please' gesture.

Fury leans forward and lies onto the table, he asks:

"What did you see on the night of 17th December 1991?"

"I saw the entire process of the Howard couple's 'accident'."

Merlin did not hide his experience:

"The brakes on their car had malfunctioned and they crashed onto a tree. I tried to help, but the heavily wounded Nr. Howard requested for me to bring his wife and some things from the trunk and leave. But the Winter Soldier came too quickly, I tried to bring them to safety but I couldn't. Howard was shot during my fight with the Winter Soldier, those things shattered."

"What things?"

Fury asks back, Merlin was surprised and replied:

'"You don't know what it was?"

"I can't be sure."

Fury answered:

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"Mr. Howard had a constitutional spot in the S.S.R. as he is one of the main founders of the organization. He had a lot of freedom and could research whatever he wanted to research, what he has researched, it was very difficult for others to know. But I think, something that lead to their deaths must not be for something useless...the Super-Soldier serum, I presume?"

"Yes."

Merlin nods and tells Fury:

"There were 5 bags of serum, most of them had evaporated in the explosion I caused, leaving very little leftover. Mr. Howard asked me to drink it before he died..."

"You drank it?"

Fury squints his eyes, to which Merlin shakes his head:

"I didn't drink it directly."

"I injected it..."

As Fury watches, Merlin reaches out and grabs the sunglasses Fury had put on the table, and as his fingers close, the sunglasses made cracking noises; moments later, glass powder appears on the table, and the frames of the sunglasses were rolled up into a metal ball using Merlin's two fingers."

"A pity."

Fury looked at the powder and said pitifully:

"Those were my favorite glasses..."

"Uhh, I'll compensate you for them."

Merlin was slightly embarrassed, he apologizes to Fury and looks at him straightforwardly:

"I didn't wish to do that. In fact, I was considering whether or not to return them to you. Unfortunately, the Winter Soldier was hunting for me and he pushed me to a corner so I had to take the risk."

"No, we don't blame you, Mr. Merlin. You injecting yourself with the serum was much better than having it fall into the hands of the Winter Soldier."

Fury stands up seemingly out of questions, he picks up his briefcase and instinctively reaches for the sunglasses in his pocket, but he realized something and looked at the powder on the table.

He shrugs and tells Merlin:

"And since you've already injected yourself with the serum, follow me."

"The next conversation is not mine to have with you, someone highly respected is waiting for you. I assume you've heard of her name before."

"What if I don't want to go?"

Merlin sat still on his seat and looked at Fury:

"What if I think that I shouldn't get involved with you?"

Merlin's words made Fury stop his pace, he looks back at Merlin, confidence flashes in his sharp eyes, he says:

"You should know, Mr. Merlin, that scientific research is a very complicated work, things like the Super-Soldier serum, while existing for dozens of years now, even to this day we know nothing of its structure or what it's made of."

"That kind of thing doesn't end with simple injection...if you wish to make it through the upcoming transformation safely, then I trust that you'll make the right decision. After all, the person you are going to meet is the person who helped Captain America finish her training back then..."

"She is probably the one person in this world who understands the most about the Super-Soldier serum."

"So, are you sure, you want to reject?"

---

Albeit Merlin wanted to reject Fury, a dozen minutes later, he still accompanied Fury to a luxury motel in Oakland city.

And the bigshot Fury spoke of was waiting for him in one of the motel rooms.

It was a lady sitting in a wheelchair, she wore a black floral blouse, her black white hair was updo and while her face was full of wrinkles, she was still full of charisma when she smiled.

Like an elderly lady who has seen it all.

But the dozens of fierce-looking, fully armed guards outside her room as well as the emptied-out motel, represented her status and authority.

"Hello, Merlin. My name is Peggy Carter, director of the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Of course, youngsters like you may be familiar with my other identity..."

The lady smiled and said calmly:

"I am indeed Captain America's girlfriend, but that was over 40 years ago..."

"Have a seat, Merlin, no need to be nervous. Let's have a nice long talk, about the serum in your body, your past, as well as your future."

Merlin sat on the sofa opposite to the lady, although Madam Carter's tone was polite, as an individual with real authority who had been through battle as well as lead the S.S.R. for over 40 years, her polite words had a compelling vibe.

Perhaps, this is what people call Charisma.

"I've heard of your story from Fury, Merlin, they all say you're dangerous, but I think otherwise."

Miss Carter looks at Merlin and continues:

"I've seen you save people, in Central City, in Amnesty Bay, and this time in Oakland. Yes, many were hurt because of you, some even died; but you also saved many people, more importantly, no one had asked you to do so..."

"You decided to do it yourself."

"Being forced to do good and doing good willingly may end up with the same results, but to the rescuer itself, are two different concepts. When I see you, I always think about Steve...although you and him, may be two completely different people."

Miss Carter crosses her hands and places them on her abdomen, she tells Merlin:

"Take off your glasses, Merlin, let me see your face."

Her request makes Merlin hesitate, he replies:

"Madam Carter, my eyes may scare you..."

"Scare me?"

Peggy Carter lets out a gentle laugh, she looks at Merlin and says:

"Child, throughout my life, I've experienced too many strange, terrible, disgusting, even sad things; I've seen too many things, but none of them had scared me...look, such beautiful eyes, like the most beautiful ash remains after the fire burns out."

Miss  Carter moves her wheelchair and goes to Merlin's side, she reaches out and gently strokes Merlin's face, she observes his eyes as if looking at the most beautiful gem in the world.

Merlin felt no rejection or disgust from Madam Carter's eyes, this was his first time being treated so kindly by a stranger.

He was somewhat helpless, as he did not know how to respond to this sincere kindness.

Until a few minutes later, Miss Carter moves her wheelchair backward, she squints her eyes, and with a gentle smile, she tells Merlin:

"Merlin, do you want to become a hero? Just like Steve."

"I..."

It was not an exaggeration to say that every kid on this vast land had grown up listening to Captain America's legendary story; he was somewhat speechless towards Carter's question.

Miss Carter told Merlin with a smile:

"I know, I know, there can only be one man as perfect as Steve."

But he has something you have too. You've both seen the darkness, and yearned for the light; you're both willing to help others, feel compassion towards the victims, even have the same source of power..."

Miss Carter reaches out and gently holds Merlin's slightly cold hands, and gently encourages:

"Merlin. give yourself a chance, and have a try."

 

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