The Bodyguard (Spinoff To Spider-Man Wrongfully Accused)

You Must Truly Be Desperate

Jacob Phillips Sr was a man who hardly used his family connections or his connections with SHIELD for his own benefit. Working as human resources for SHIELD was quite beneficial for Jacob, he was able to afford a good house for his family, good cars, good public schools, paying for Jake's college. And now Lisa would go to college since she wasn't snapped away five years ago. Jacob hardly used his connections for his own benefit because he didn't want to act entitled to such power, as if he was the nephew of a governor and using that connection like a weapon. But now a super genius criminal was threatening the life of his son. And his son planned on testifying against this supervillain. From what Jacob heard about Mysterio and his band of conspirators, he knew Beck had connections and could send just about anyone or anything to find his son and kill him. And that's the last thing Jacob needed, his son's life in danger. He lost him to The Snap once, he wouldn't lose him again. A father would do anything to protect his children. And for once, Jacob was willing to use his connections to find someone to protect his son until Quentin Beck was guaranteed to be convicted and imprisoned.

Jacob was unable to get ahold of Nick Fury since he was off world. So he turned to the next former agent he knew well enough, that person being Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Val for short. He drove to her house and parked the car outside. He got out and walked on over to the door and knocked on it. Less than a minute later, a 5'3 woman in her late 50s with dark purple hair and hazel eyes came out the door. This was Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. She smirked up at Jacob and said, "Well what do we have here? Jacob Chester Phillips Sr at my door. Been a long time, hasn't it, Jake?"

"Valentina, you know I prefer being called Jacob," he corrected, "It's my son who likes being called Jake. Could I please come in? I was hoping I could talk to you about something urgent." Val casually leaned on her door and said, "oh I get it. Come on in, stranger. What do I owe the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite former co-workers?" She allowed Jacob to come in and she shut the door behind her. "Before I forget, how is Junior anyway?" Val asked as Jacob found the living room, "do take a seat." Jacob sat down and said, "Jake is doing well, as far as college goes. He's really working hard to earn his veterinarian degree. And Lisa is also doing a great job at school. I can't believe that she's going to be graduating high school very soon." Val sat on her favorite armchair couch and asked, "and how's Rosalind? I heard she was one of the jurors at Spider-Man's trial."

"Rosalind's doing well," confirmed Jacob, "The moment Leeds, Jones, and Hogan revealed who Mysterio truly was, she was the first to figure out Peter was framed." Val nodded and said with fondness, "That's Ros for ya. Now that we got the pleasant chitchat out the way, why are you here, Mr. Phillips?" Jacob sighed, "My son confided in me yesterday that he ran into Mysterio in that abandoned building that Spider-Man confronted him at. Reason he never told us was because Quentin threatened to kill Jake. My son is going to testify against Beck as a witness in his upcoming trial. But given that Beck is part of a team of disgruntled ex-employees of Stark, Quentin could get just about anyone or anything to hunt down Jake and kill him before the trial starts." Val listened and said, "ah... I see. Why not talk to Nick Fury about this?" Jacob shrugged and replied, "Fury is off world and he won't tell me his new number. Seems unlikely he'll want to come down to Earth."

"And so you've come to me," said Val, "you must truly be desperate." Jacob nodded and said, "I really am, Val. I lost my son once, I can't lose him again. Do you know anyone who could protect my son before the trial, and during?" Valentina thought for a moment on who could do bodyguard duty. Then she got an idea! It was enough to make Val give a Grinch like grin. "How long has it been since I promised you that I owe you a favor?" Valentina asked. "Nearly 10 years." Jacob said matter of factly. "I got someone who failed an assassination attempt that owes me a favor," explained Val, "and trust me, this lady was a Black Widow, one of the best next to Romanoff. I'll talk to her and assign her to be your son's bodyguard until the judge convicts Quentin Beck and he's behind bars. Of course if Beck somehow gets acquitted due to some jurisdiction BS, that'll be a different story."

"You don't think that Beck will be found not guilty, do you?" Jacob asked in a worried tone. "The evidence against Beck is clear and damning," said Val, "so maybe he will get convicted. One can only hope. But here's what's gonna happen Jacob. Your son will have a bodyguard that will protect him everywhere. And the best part is, I'm only going to charge you $100." If Jacob wasn't sitting on the couch, he would have fainted. "$100?!?!?! Do you mean it??" Jacob asked. "What can I say? I'm in a generous mood," said Valentina, "and it's also because I have a high respect for your family, Jacob. I'll say what I will about what it's like now, but there wouldn't be a SHIELD if it weren't for your great grandfather and Peggy Carter." Jacob sighed in relief, "thank you, Val." Valentina winked at Jacob and asked, "anything for a friend. Now I'm going to need a file on your son if his bodyguard is going to get to know the person she's protecting."