Chapter 63: Arc 2: Chapter 18: Pierce’s Protection

"Shii, it hurts a little."

On the plane heading home, in the lit-up cabin, Pierce lies against the sofa as agent Hand tended to his wounds.

The feeling of cleaning his wound with wine was not a good one, it made his eyes twitch.

The rebels did not treat him kindly, there was blood all over his expensive shirt; the guys must've abused him, as there were bruises on his face, chest, and back.

"What happened? Pierce. How did they catch you so easily?"

Fury sits opposite to Pierce and hands him a glass of wine with ice.

Pierce, who had been relieved after being rescued, takes the glass of wine, drinks it, and calms his mind. Being this close to hell's gate made pierce exhausted.

Facing Fury's question, the 50-year-old elderly man lets out a breath and tells the agents in front of him:

"It all happened so suddenly, there wasn't even an omen before it all went to hell."

The elderly man gently shakes the wine glass in his hand as he says:

"I don't know how the rebels know of my location. I was resting in the embassy when I suddenly heard an explosion; my aide covered me as we left, but a group blocked the exit just as we were going through it."

"I took down an enemy, but there were too many of them. I'm already old, after all."

Pierce blinks his bruised eye, humorously smiles, and says:

"Or it's just that I'm unlucky, and those rebels even 'guessed' my secret evac route."

The agents looked at each other, this was clearly just a joke.

For an important individual like him, everything was confidential. An incident like this was not possible without a mole on the inside.

"They're starting to clean us out one by one."

The pilot agent Garrett puts the plane on auto-pilot, turns around, and tells the others:

"Officer Pierce is just a start, if they succeeded, Fury would be next. It seems like they're bent on tearing the SSR apart, even using such consequential methods."

"This is good, Garrett."

Pierce leans against his seat and takes a sip of wine, he closes his eyes like he was resting. He lightly says:

"The fiercer the methods they use, the more fearful they are towards us; their fear of our comeback caused them to make a regrettable choice."

"This is good, we can use this, use their failure to our advantage."

Pierce raises his wine glass and tells the others:

"I'll handle the political bout. You've won the first war, so I'll take over the rest."

"Sir, are you going to heavily smack them in the face?"

Merlin asks, which Pierce looks at him and shakes his head:

"No."

A cold light flashed in Pierce's eyes as he lightly says:

"I'll have them kneel onto the ground and look up to us with a toady smile, just as they used to. But this needs time, any effective counterattack needs time, so for the time being, we'll have to hide."

"Yes, Pierce is right."

Fury looks back and tells the others:

"Keller and the people behind him won't give up so easily after Pierce is rescued, their strikes will be wider and fiercer; we'll have to make it through the time being."

"We're far from North America, they can't touch us."

Agent Garrett crosses his arms and tells Fury:

"You and Merlin are the only two left in the mainland, so they'll target you two too."

"There's still Miss Carter."

Fury says:

"I'm not that worried about myself, Keller won't strike at me too obviously. What I'm worried about is Merlin, he has no foundation, and Keller can deal with a recently joined rookie very easily. He just needs to accuse him of something, add some 'evidence', and his future will be ruined as that accusation will affect him to the end of his life."

"He can lay low in the European branch for now."

Garrett lights a cigar and tells Fury and Merlin:

"Because of Miss Carter, we have a good relationship with MI6. I can guarantee his safety as long as he stays in London or Paris."

"What do you think? Merlin."

Fury contemplates momentarily, then he turns around and asks Merlin:

"Are you willing to go to Garrett's place for now? Lay low there for some time, just as a job redeployment, the process takes half a day, Keller won't be able to stop it."

"At least a few months, at most a few years."

Pierce breaks his silence as he says:

"When you come back, child. No one will be able to take advantage of you in New York."

"I don't have a problem."

Merlin shrugs, he tells Fury:

"But I still have a mission, and I just started doing it, surely it's bad to just give up halfway?"

"Safety first, Merlin."

Garrett lets out a smoke ring, he did not know of the exact details of Merlin's mission, so he advises:

"You can come back and continue your mission once the situation stabilizes. Or you can find someone else to replace you, it's not that there aren't any trustworthy agents under Fury's wing, there are plenty of people with much more experience than you."

"Merlin's mission is special."

Fury did not state it out clearly, he ponders as if he was thinking.

But Garrett's words gave Merlin an idea, he winks at Fury, and the two walk to the other side of the cabin; Merlin lowers his voice and tells Fury:

"I met someone a few days ago, he claims to be a young wizard from London. But from what I could see, he seemed to be living a bad life, so his inheritance must not be official. What I mean is, if you really need someone to continue my mission, you can consider hiring him."

"What's he called? Is he trustworthy?"

Fury's eyes brighten up as he asked.

Merlin replied calmly:

"He's called John Constantine, he has short blonde hair, a carefree temperament, and he loves Silka Cigars; he wears a messy yellow jacket and he's dressed like a local thug, he operates near Hell's Kitchen, and my assistant has his picture. As for whether or not he's trustworthy...I'll leave that to you to decide."

Merlin lightly coughs as he tells Fury:

"If I were you, I'd keep him under leash and not give him any chance to cause trouble. He has some abilities, but he's a slick one, and he loves being a fraud; he claims to be a detective but he has not professional ethics...oh, and lastly, he loves money."

"Mmm, sounds like you hold a grudge against him."

Fury glances at Merlin, he nods and tells Merlin:

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"Fine, I'll go take a look when I can. If he's suitable, I'll give him the mission, but you will take over once you come back."

"One more thing, Fury."

Merlin's tone becomes slightly serious as he tells Fury:

"Last time on the phone, I told you about a cult group in Hell's Kitchen called Cerberus. They're highly dangerous, not only are they dealing with drugs, their cult leader Morris is transforming humans using magic, and I've encountered one before. They're troublesome and violent, so normal agents won't stand a chance against those defect half-demons."

"I don't know what they're planning, but I assume they're doing this for something big. So, if possible, you should place your attention on them."

"Take them out before they strike, or wipe out their cult entirely."

Bloodlust flashes in Merlin's eyes as he says:

"Don't let down your guard."

"Oh, when you put it that way, it's a tough nail, isn't it?"

Fury strokes his chin and lightly says:

"If that's the case, let our most wise director Kohler go deal with it, he's grandiose, and recently he's worried about not having a chance to show his...abilities."

Merlin was surprised, he looks at Fury, wondering what his brain was made of to be thinking of such tricks so easily.

Apparently, agent advisors are who they are for a reason.

"Alright, pause your mission here for now and go lay low in Europe."

Fury pats on Merlin's shoulder and tells him:

"Get along with Garrett, he may seem hard to approach, but he's a warm-hearted person and an excellent action expert. Surely you'll be able to learn a thing or two from him."

"Then my cousin, brother-in-law, and young Erik will be in your care."

Merlin says so the Fury, the latter shakes his head and says:

"When Kohler has his eyes on you, the farther away you are from them, the safer they are."

"As long as you don't say anything, Kohler won't know of your cousin's existence, our files are confidential, at least, they're a level which Kohler does not have access to."

"Alright, if that's the case, I'm relieved."

---

It was already dawn when Merlin returned to his house.

Silvey was sleeping away in his room so Merlin did not wake him. The two of them had just met, after all, plus Fury would explain to Silvey about the mission mobilization himself.

Merlin walks into his room and lightly packs, he takes the weapons from his car and hides them in the ceiling while keeping the phone Alfred had given him on him; at 8-am, Merlin drove his car out of his house.

The weather today was not good, there was no sunlight, and it even began to rain as Merlin drove out.

He first went to St Agnes Orphanage to pick up Erik, and as the rain grew heavier, drove him to Queens.

"I'm going to Europe this time, and I may be away for a long time."

Merlin drove as he told Erik, who was sitting beside him:

"You might have to take care of yourself for a while now. Any problems?"

"Nope."

Erik kept his head low and played on the console Merlin had bought him:

"I'm used to being alone, you're always busy anyway. But that's alright, the orphanage is fine, I like it there. But the newly arrived sister Maggie is a bit cold, she's not as easy to approach as sister Pell."

"Maggie?"

Merlin was surprised when he heard that name.

Wasn't Maggie the young girl who had slight PPD that he and father Paul brought back?

Father Paul actually let her return to the monastery after the sin she'd committed?

"Yeah, sister Maggie."

Erik stared at the screen of the gaming console while complaining:

"She's strict, and she's a teacher in the school, everyone has been gloomy since she arrived. But, sister Maggie sure can cook, although sister Maggie seems to be afraid of babies since she never visited little Ada."

"Of course she is, she just abandoned her own child after all."

Merlin laments, and as they turn the corner into Queens, Merlin remembers something, he turns around, looks at Erik, and asks:

"Have Klaue's people turned up these past few days?"

"They didn't."

Hearing Klaue's name, Erik directs his attention away from the screen, looks at Merlin, and replies in a low voice:

"Ever since I returned to the orphanage, they've never appeared. This is why I said that the orphanage is a safe place, I feel...as though someone is protecting that place, protecting us and St Matthew's Church."

"I'll give you a number, remember it well."

Fury thinks about it and gives Erik Fury's number, then he tells him:

"If you meet Klaue's people again, call this number; if necessary, tell him about the Vibranium. He'll protect you."

"Mmm, I know."

Erik looks out the car window at the unfamiliar street, he turns to Merlin and asks:

"Where are we going?"

"To my sister's place."

Merlin smiles and tells Erik:

"You'll have to call her sister too. We'll have dinner tonight together, and if you behave well, I'll buy you another gaming console before I leave. But playing games must not affect your learning, if I hear from father Paul that your grades have dropped when I come back from Europe, I'll smash all your consoles!"

"We have a deal?"

"Of course we do!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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