Chapter 50: Arc 2: Chapter 6: Mission Start

It's near midnight, on the car heading towards the point of departure, Nick Fury raises his head and looks at Merlin, who is in the back seat through the rearview mirror, and asks:

"You look tired, what's with that?"

Merlin rubs his forehead and lightly says:

"Nothing, just did something bad, and I'm having some nightmares from it."

"Something bad?"

Confusion flashes in Fury's eyes:

"What do you mean by that?"

Merlin turns around and looks out the window, moments later, he says:

"Took a wife from her husband, took a mother from her child. Last night, I harmed a man deeply."

"You're familiar with him?"

"Nope, never seen him before."

"Do you regret it?"

"Nope, I saved that girl's life."

"Then what are you troubled about?"

"..."

Merlin became irritated from Fury's string of questions, so he raises his head and tells the officer in front of him:

"Truthfully, I don't know either. It could be nervousness because we're traveling across the sea to the other side of the world to look for a female slaughterer, so I think I should be nervous, don't you say?"

"Mmm, makes sense."

Fury nods in agreement, he drives the car to a hidden airfield, turns off the engine, and turns back at Merlin, saying:

"But I don't have time to listen to your youthful worries! Get your head in the game, rookie. If you screw this mission up, you're going back to wandering the world!"

"Now, get off the car!"

Under Fury's scoldings, Merlin puts on his baseball cap and carries his backpack, he walks off of Fury's car like an actual tourist.

In the night in front of him, a small plane was parked a few hundred meters out, some ground crew was doing final checks before take-off. In the darkness, Merlin could see a tall yet slim man waiting by the entrance of the small plane.

Mmm, should be the last participating member of this mission.

Fury, who was also dressed like a tourist, throws his car keys to an agent who was waiting nearby. He converses with the man in the suit and takes a black suitcase from him before walking towards Merlin.

"Who's that?"

As he follows behind Fury, Merlin gestures with his mouth to the direction of the plane; Fury looks up, but he doesn't have Merlin's night vision, so he could only see a blur.

Thus he did not answer Merlin's question, instead, he uses a cold attitude that leaders have and silently brings Merlin to the staircase into the plane.

"Officer Fury, it's been a long time."

As Fury enters the plane hatch, a coarse voice resounds in the cabin, and then the lights in the cabin turn on.

A slim yet tall man rises from his seat, he had short hair, thin cheeks, long limbs, and a pair of grayish eyes that seemed somewhat indifferent.

He wore a black sleeveless combat uniform, with a combat knife slotted in his waist, making him look sharp and capable. 

There was a box right next to his feet, Merlin could sense that in it was a cold weapon made of some type of metal.

"Barton, it's been too long."

Fury steps forward and shakes his hand. He then turns around to reveal Merlin who was following behind him, he tells the man in front of him:

"This is Merlin, an excellent agent who had just joined us, he will be operating with us this time. Merlin, this is Clint Barton, the best action expert in the SSR, nickname 'Hawkeye', he is my most trusted agent, and one of my best friends."

"Hello, Merlin."

Agent Barton extends his hand expressionlessly, and Merlin notices a cold hint of examination in his eyes.

He looks at the hand in front of him and smiles, he reaches out to grab Barton's left hand and says:

"Hello, Clint."

Then, the friendly hands that held each other tightened.

"Crack"

Following a light sound coming from his hand bone, Hawkeye Barton's expression changes slightly, even his smile stiffens. He looks at Merlin who had squinted his eyes and lets out a smile, this guy...has such strong hands!

"Come...sit down!"

Fury takes two water bottles from the fridge in the plane and says to his two subordinates.

Merlin and Barton both retract their hands, Merlin moved his fingers while Barton flung his hand with force behind his back.

"Buzz~"

As the three of them sat down, the plane's propellers began to spin, and the plane slowly begins moving towards the runway to prepare for taking off. In the cabin, Fury takes out a map of Europe and places it on the table. He looks at the two agents and says with a serious tone:

"You should know about this mission by now, we're going to Europe to persuade a 'peer' to surrender.

"The location is here, a small city in Eastern Europe, Sokovia."

Fury taps on the map with his finger, he takes a picture out from his pocket and places it on the map, and continues:

"Our target is named Natasha Romanoff. This could be her alias, over the past few decades, she has been one of the few very active, top agents of the ex-Soviet intelligence organization 'Red Room'. Her tracks could be found all across the globe, even foiling many well-prepared plans of the CIA.

"Especially during the early stages of the Cold War, Natasha had infiltrated North America multiple times to defect multiple scientists related to the Manhattan Project for the ex-Soviet Union. Supposedly she even sneaked out some confidential data from Langley in the 1970s, but this claim was never frontally verified by the CIA."

"Wait, I have a question."

As the plane began to take off, Merlin picks up his cup of water and takes a sip.

He picks up the picture on the map, and on the black-and-white photo, was a lady walking on heels while wearing sunglasses and a coat. Just from her looks, she looked like a supermodel, no one would think that she's a dangerous and deadly spy.

Merlin flips the picture and asks Fury:

"When was this picture taken?"

"About 3 years ago, in some small town in Crimea."

Fury answered, which Merlin frowned and asked again:

"But as you just said, Natasha became active since the start of the Cold War, even if she's begun working for the ex-Soviet Union in her teen-hood, then if my calculation is correct, she must be at least 40 by now, no?"

Merlin waggles the picture in his hand and says:

"You sure you didn't get the wrong picture?"

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"That's right, that's Natasha."

Fury explains:

"We've learned from some agents who had defected from the ex-Soviet Union, that 'Red Room' has a drug that can slow down the aging process, a top agent like Natasha must've also been injected with it. Of course, some say she's a mutant...but there's no evidence to prove that claim."

"Mmm."

Merlin nods and looks at the picture in his hand, he says:

"So it would seem that we're dealing with an ageless witch."

"Don't be deceived by her appearance, she's dangerous."

Hawkeye Barton who had kept his silence till now abruptly cuts in:

"3 years ago, back then I first joined the SSR and was on a field mission in Eastern Europe when I first encountered Natasha. She walked into the trap we've set by accident, yet she played with us with the palm of her hand, if we weren't lucky that time, we would've all been sacrificed there."

"And this is why I pulled you into this mission, Barton."

Fury says seriously:

"You've exchanged hands with Natasha before so you know her tricks. What I learned is that Natasha is being hunted by her past colleagues, and was last seen in Sokovia. This is our chance."

"Hunted by her colleagues?"

Merlin asks curiously:

"Did she betray her organization?"

"No."

Fury shakes his head, he looks at Merlin, and an odd light flashes in his eyes, he says:

"Natasha didn't betray 'Red Room' while many of her colleagues had defected, she still stubbornly rejected our recruitment. She's still loyal to her country and organization, but that loyalty has become a burden to her now."

"Then why is she..."

"Because she knows too many secrets that shouldn't be leaked out, and she doesn't want to forget these secrets, stubbornly unwilling to change. To her deteriorated organization, the more loyal she is to past beliefs, the more threatening she becomes, like a ticking time bomb."

Barton closes his eyes and speaks out the answer.

This slightly cruel truth made Merlin speechless. Being an agent means having secrets, and Natasha's story deepens his understandings of being an agent.

It would seem that knowing too much is bad for an agent.

"Barton's right."

Fury continues:

"Because of the sudden collapse of the ex-Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, the change in world politics, the intricate yet massive intelligence organization had lost its cause and its resources. To survive, they had to seek dangerous 'transformation' in a daze of the future."

"Organizations like 'Red Room', 'Red Scorpion', even the mysterious 'Leviathan', are changing their position, and break away from governmental control. These intelligence organizations that once served the government began to have a mind of their own, it's hard to say if this is bad or good. But what we can be sure of, is that for us, it's a great chance."

A smile flashes on Fury's face as he says:

"Our recruitment towards Natasha is just an attempt. In later years, we'll have plenty more of these missions Like during the end of WWII, operations led by Miss Peggy Carter herself like Operation Paperclip, our seniors used N**i Germany's powers to strengthen ourselves. And now, we're going to do just what they did!"

Nick Fury stands up and tells Barton:

"Barton, there's another reason I brought you here."

"Merlin is an absolute rookie, he has some special powers and can be of great help. But he's a rookie, impulsive, reckless, all the characteristics a rookie has; everything he knows about being an agent came from the academy 6 months ago, he still has a lot to learn."

"I'm not as bad as you make me sound like, Fury."

Merlin makes a dissatisfied rebuttal:

"You're embarrassing me in front of my new friend."

Fury didn't care for Merlin's complaint, he looks at Merlin seriously and says:

"Barton is an agent I personally recruited, as well as the best agent I've seen. Merlin, I hope you can follow under his leadership and complete the recruitment mission."

As he continues, he looks at his watch and says to the two people in front of him:

"30 minutes later, the plane will reach the designated area. The political situation in Sokovia is a mess right now, all flights have been suspended, and are under air traffic control. We can't just waltz in."

"Then how are we going in?"

Merlin asks, which Fury responded by making an odd expression and pointing to the ground, saying:

"By boat! A freight is waiting for you in the open seas, we'll rendezvous in Sokovia 3 days later."

"You're not coming with us?"

Merlin asks again, Fury takes out an ID card from his pocket and waggles it in front of Merlin, saying:

"My identity is a military attache in the US Embassy stationed in Sokovia, I'll have diplomatic immunity, and a specialized aircraft will be escorting me to the embassy. Merlin, as someone who had just left the academy, have you forgotten about everything you've learned? No. 7 of the Agent's Code!"

"Always have a trump card..."

Merlin instinctively responds, which Fury shrugs:

"I'll contact Natasha again through the official channel, all is well if I can persuade her to join us, but if I fail, then you guys who are hiding in the dark..."

"Are my trump cards!"

Merlin had an epiphany and said:

"Like fishing..."

Fury chuckles and pats on Merlin's shoulder:

"Yeah, two ways of preparations, just like fishing."

30 minutes later, the small plane circles in the night sky above the open sea, the cabin door has been opened, and Merlin stands right at the door with his parachute while looking at the sea down below.

The cold wind blows onto his face, he looks back to see Fury, who had already changed to his military attache uniform, waving him farewell. Hawkeye Barton, who also had a parachute, was looking at him with a calm demeanor.

A hunting game between peers is about to begin, this will be the cub Merlin's first 'hunt'.

He was a bit nervous, a bit excited too. His past memories were still affecting him, but Merlin knows that it's time to move on. From here, towards his new life, the path ahead may be a dark one, but it will most definitely be a spectacular one.

A few seconds later, he takes a deep breath, rushes forward, and leaps off the plane.

Just like, a Raven spreading its wings.

Tonight...Merlin Reilly!

Joins the hunt!

 

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