Chapter 578

"You’ve just made a very serious mistake."

Skye sat in the interrogation room with her arms crossed, looking utterly unrepentant.

Grant Ward stood beside the door, his expression cold.

"You don’t look that serious."

Skye’s eyes narrowed.

Coulson, seated across from her, maintained a more cordial tone, though the easygoing warmth he usually carried was nowhere to be found.

"Sorry we didn’t show you more courtesy. Agent Ward has a bit of history with your organization, the Rising Tide."

That was hardly surprising.

The Rising Tide existed to uncover secrets governments wanted hidden. There was no way its hackers would ignore S.H.I.E.L.D., perhaps the largest collection of classified information on the planet.

For an intelligence agency, however, information was everything.

Even a small leak could make an operation dramatically more difficult. Having sensitive information exposed before an operation began was even worse.

Ward knew that firsthand.

Not long ago, one of his missions had nearly been compromised because the Rising Tide published intelligence ahead of time. The operation had become so dangerous that they had almost been forced to abort.

So Ward had very little patience for the organization.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Skye muttered, lowering her eyes.

She still tried to deny it.

Ward cut her off.

"There are two ways we can handle this."

Skye immediately perked up.

"One of them is the easy way, right?"

Finally!

All those crime shows she’d watched had prepared her for this moment. The good cop, bad cop routine. She’d rehearsed all kinds of responses for an interrogation just like this.

She was ready to talk circles around them.

"No."

Ward’s answer was so flat that her confidence collapsed instantly.

That’s not how this is supposed to work.

Maybe television really had been lying to her all along.

"Skye."

Ward planted both hands on his hips.

"What’s your real name?"

"We can deal with that later," Coulson said. "Right now, we’re looking for another name."

He leaned forward slightly.

"A particular hero."

"Do you really need to ask me?"

Skye rolled her eyes.

"The guy who sold me out is still on this plane, isn’t he?"

Despite everything, she still refused to give up the hooded hero.

She pushed all suspicion toward Evenson instead.

"Not him," Coulson said. "Someone else."

"What makes you think I know who you’re talking about?"

"You made one small mistake."

Coulson smiled and pulled a chair closer.

"The phone you used to photograph that hero had the same encrypted signature as several Rising Tide communications."

Skye’s expression tightened.

"And that’s a mistake?"

She leaned back.

"You got nothing from it. You couldn’t break the encryption on my equipment."

A smug smile appeared.

"And now I’m sitting inside your secret headquarters."

She looked around.

"Or is this a plane?"

Knock. Knock.

Coulson closed his eyes for a moment.

He already knew who was on the other side.

When he opened the door, Evenson stood there.

"What are you doing here?" Coulson asked. "I’m working."

"I’m bored."

Evenson sounded genuinely offended by the concept.

"This plane is unbelievably boring. I have nothing to do."

"Can’t you find someone to talk to?"

"Melinda’s flying. She needs to concentrate."

Evenson sighed.

"And the two young scientists downstairs are interesting enough, but they have their own unique communication style. I can’t get a word in edgewise. Half the time I can’t even follow their thought process."

He rubbed his temple.

"It’s like having my intelligence crushed under a steamroller every thirty seconds."

"Watch a movie. Play a game. Do anything you want."

Coulson’s patience was beginning to wear thin.

"Just don’t interrupt my work."

"Don’t underestimate me."

Evenson squeezed past him and entered the interrogation room.

"I’m here to help."

He grinned.

"I’m actually pretty good at interrogations."

"You bastard!"

The moment Skye saw him, her blood pressure seemed to double.

To her, this was the ultimate betrayal.

The man who had sold her out wasn’t content with collecting his reward. Now he wanted to personally participate in her interrogation, presumably to curry favor with his new masters.

Except...

Something didn’t quite fit.

Evenson walked into the room, pulled out a chair, sat down, and casually propped both feet on the table.

He looked completely at home.

And Coulson, whom Skye had assumed was the senior authority here, didn’t object.

Not even slightly.

"Hey, beautiful. We meet again."

Evenson looked toward Coulson.

"Has she told you anything?"

"No, sir."

Ward answered immediately.

Sir?

Skye stared at him.

The large, handsome agent clearly respected Evenson.

That shattered her theory about Evenson being some low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. lackey.

But it didn’t make her like him any more.

"Traitor."

Evenson clutched his chest.

"That hurts."

He looked genuinely wounded.

"How have I ever betrayed you?"

Skye nearly laughed from sheer frustration.

"You really want me to answer that?"

She pointed at him.

"You told me you were just an ordinary businessman!"

"I am a businessman."

Evenson answered with astonishing sincerity.

"Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. is just a side job."

Skye stared.

"I didn’t even want the position at first, but they offered too much money to refuse."

He spread his hands.

"And when we met this morning, I was off the clock. So technically, I really was just a businessman."

"Then why did you sell me out?"

Evenson smiled.

"Because after you left, I decided to clock in."

Skye’s jaw dropped.

This man.

Her head practically buzzed.

"Fine! But you still scammed me as a businessman!"

She pointed accusingly at him.

"Your sales pitch was ridiculous! You kept telling me my face was cursed and that I’d have terrible luck unless I bought something from you!"

"Well..."

Evenson gave her a sympathetic look.

"You’re sitting in a S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation room right now."

He spread his hands.

"Don’t you think that qualifies as terrible luck?"

Skye opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

She hated that she couldn’t immediately find a response.

"Wait."

She grabbed the charm hanging around her neck and ripped it off.

She slapped it onto the table.

"Then explain this!"

Her eyes burned with outrage.

"You said wearing this would keep me safe from disaster! I’m sitting in an interrogation room because of you, which proves it doesn’t work!"

She jabbed a finger at the charm.

"One hundred dollars! That’s more than half a month’s food budget for me!"

She pointed at Evenson.

"I want a refund!"

"You already wore it."

Evenson shook his head gravely.

"There’s fingerprints all over it. How could I possibly accept a return?"

Skye stared at him in disbelief.

Evenson continued without shame.

"Besides, you’re sitting here alive, aren’t you?"

He tapped the charm.

"Instead of being shot the moment you were captured and buried somewhere in the desert."

He smiled.

"That means it worked. It saved you from dying."

"That wouldn’t happen."

Coulson immediately shook his head.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t operate like that."

"Correct."

Ward nodded.

"We don’t."

Evenson turned slowly toward the two men.

Could you two stop ruining my sales pitch for five seconds?

He glared at them before looking back at Skye.

"You believe them?"

Skye hesitated.

Do I?

How was she supposed to know?

Instead, she changed tactics.

She leaned forward, resting both hands on the table.

"So, by your own logic, you’re an honest man."

Evenson considered that.

"Sure."

"Then, Honest Man..."

Skye narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me what you actually do for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Until now, Skye had always assumed S.H.I.E.L.D. deliberately concealed the existence of superpowered individuals.

Sometimes she’d even suspected something darker.

Perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t merely hide them.

Perhaps it eliminated them.

But now she had a living contradiction sitting directly across from her.

Evenson possessed supernatural abilities. He hadn’t been imprisoned or eliminated.

He worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.

And judging from the way everyone treated him, he wasn’t exactly low-ranking.

That meant some of her assumptions might have been wrong.

If she could figure out what Evenson actually did for S.H.I.E.L.D., she might finally understand how the agency truly regarded people with extraordinary abilities.

Evenson didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he glanced toward Coulson.

He was technically part of the organization now. Revealing his position wasn’t something he could simply decide on his own.

Under normal circumstances, Coulson would never have agreed to disclose classified information to an ordinary civilian, especially one currently sitting in custody.

But this time, he surprised Evenson.

"He’s a special consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Coulson’s voice was matter-of-fact.

"He reports directly to the director. No other agent, myself included, has the authority to order him around."

"Consultant?"

Skye stared at Evenson.

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. possibly need to consult him about?"

She looked skeptical.

"Can this weird fortune-teller actually predict the future?"

Her eyes widened.

"Or does he know magic?"

"Bingo."

Evenson snapped his fingers.

A dark set of armor materialized over his body in an instant.

Skye’s jaw dropped.

"I do, in fact, know magic."

He glanced down at himself.

"So stop calling me a superhuman. ’Mutant’ or ’powered individual’ isn’t really accurate either, and honestly, I don’t particularly like either term."

"Oh my God."

Skye stared at him.

One moment he’d been sitting there in ordinary clothes.

The next, he’d transformed completely.

That was an absurdly convenient ability.

Then recognition hit her.

Her eyes went even wider.

"You’re an Avenger!"

She nearly jumped out of her chair.

"The Black Scythe Lord!"

She looked genuinely thrilled.

"I can’t believe I’m actually meeting you!"

Then, without missing a beat:

"Can I get your autograph?"

"Of course."

Evenson looked almost touched.

He turned toward Coulson with a smug grin.

"See? I have fans."

Skye clasped her hands together.

"Then I can trade your autograph for one from Captain America!"

Evenson’s smile vanished.

"Never mind. I take it back."