Fury stared at Luke for a full minute, weighing his options. In the end, he let out a long, tired sigh — the kind that came from accepting defeat before the war even started.
"Fine," he said at last. "But in exchange, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants your cooperation."
It wasn't a request.
It was the most realistic surrender he could make.
Recovering the Tesseract wasn't going to be easy — Loki wasn't just a rogue; he was an alien god with unknown powers. And the other option? Picking a fight with the man in front of him.
That wasn't an option at all.
Fury already had one unpredictable god of mischief loose on Earth.
He wasn't about to add a second, far more dangerous unknown variable onto his list — especially one who could kill the Abomination, level city streets, and casually threaten S.H.I.E.L.D.'s entire chain of command without raising his voice.
So if losing the Tesseract was the price… then he would at least secure something of equal value.
"Hmm? Go on," Luke said calmly as the room's temperature slipped back to normal.
Fury straightened up just a bit. "In scenarios where there's a catastrophic event — something normal human intervention can't handle — I want your help. Officially."
Luke tilted his head.
"That sounds full of loopholes. Let me revise it."
Fury didn't object; he already expected this.
Luke continued, "I'll help as long as it's a threat to the planet or humanity as a whole. But I'm not getting involved in wars, terrorist attacks, political messes, or anything caused by humans themselves. Their problems, their responsibility."
He could help when humanity was truly in danger; he wasn't cold-hearted. Most people on Earth were innocent, and he had no problem stepping in to protect them.
But if the crisis was caused by the people in power — politicians, governments, or anyone who created a mess through their own greed and stupidity — then he wouldn't lift a finger. They could clean up their mistake themselves.
Fury nodded slowly. That was fair — incredibly fair, considering who he was negotiating with.
"Okay," he said. "We can work with that."
And just like that, even though he lost the Tesseract, Fury gained something priceless — a powerhouse ally who could shift the fate of the Earth in a single move.
As for the World Council?
If they asked where the Tesseract went, he could simply tell them:
"It's with Luke. Feel free to retrieve it yourselves."
Fury smirked inwardly.
With their cowardly nature, he knew exactly what they would do.
Absolutely nothing.
"Well then you got me. I'll help you in beating Loki's ass and getting back the Tesseract — and whatever other problems come with it," said Luke.
Truth was, he had already planned on going after Loki. The Mind Stone in the scepter and the Space Stone inside the Tesseract were too valuable to ignore.
With his upgraded system, sacrificing both would let the Codex extract their unique traits and give them directly to him.
The EXP alone would be insane — enough to push him into a new level of power, maybe even planet-busting or solar-system level. And those traits would influence his next class evolution.
That's exactly why he hadn't chosen his second class yet. With psionic and spatial traits mixed in? He could only imagine how ridiculous the class would be.
So yeah… he was excited.
"Well then, Natasha, come with me. Show me the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters," said Luke.
He casually stood and took Natasha's hand as they walked out.
Fury's eye twitched. Something felt… wrong. Or rather, suspicious.
He wasn't sure if it was because Luke was too calm — or because Natasha didn't pull her hand away.
"Fury… what is that guy? He seems unstable," asked Steve quietly.
Fury shook his head. "Nope. He might be the most stable man I've ever seen."
And he meant it.
After the chaos that had started with the emergence of Iron Man — enhanced individuals appearing, super suits becoming normal, gods dropping out of the sky, alien warnings popping up left and right — Luke remained the only one who acted like a normal human most of the time.
A guy who ate pizza, lived in an apartment, flirted a bit, slept like anyone else.
Compared to every other unpredictable factor, Luke was downright peaceful.
Steve hesitated. "So… that agent of yours. Are they dating?"
Fury didn't even blink. "No comment."
He genuinely had no idea what was going on between them.
And there was absolutely no way he would admit that he had once tried to bait Luke into S.H.I.E.L.D — and failed — while Natasha somehow looked like she got pulled in instead.
That would practically make Fury a matchmaker
And he was not ready for that job description.
*****
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