Marvel Evolution

Chapter Five: Mistakes of the Past

Anaheim, California – 1996

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Sean! Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuu!"

Right at the second his mother and sister finished singing, Sean blew out all ten candles of a birthday cake designed after the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem to congratulatory applause. Elendriel took the extinguished candles out one-by-one, while Ciciley hugged her ten-year-old boy tight and kissed his curly-haired hair.

"My little man is ten years old now," she enthused. "Where has time gone?"

"So, what did you wish for?" Elendriel asked her little brother.

"To be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!" Sean buoyantly blurted out.

"Now, Sean," Ciciley began. "You know a wish is something you have to keep to yourself. If you say it aloud, it won't come true."

"Yeah," Elendriel agreed. "It's like never seeing your bride's face before the wedding."

Sean's face twisted in disgust. "I ain't gettin' married!"

Ciciley and Elendriel erupted in laughter.

"I've missed this," Ciciley emotionally reflected, looking over the small yet humbling party held in their kitchen. "I've looked forward to finally spending a birthday with my beautiful girl and handsome little man."

"We're glad you can, too, Moms," Elendriel said. "You've been retired for how many years now?"

"A few," she told her teenaged daughter. "And it's been the best few of my life."

Just as Ciciley started cutting the cake, the doorbell rang.

"Seriously?!" Elendriel miserably groaned.

"I'm sure it's just Mister Charles from next door wanting to wish Sean a happy birthday," Ciciley reasoned as she went to answer the door.

She opened it to find, standing at her doorstep, an eyepatch-wearing African American gentleman with a hi-top fade and dressed entirely in black. In his hands, he carried a box gift-wrapped in blue and grey colors.

"Nicholas," she addressed him in surprise.

"NICK FURY?!"

She heard her starstruck son and daughter rush to the door, in order to see the legendary S.H.I.E.L.D. director up close.

"I hope to God I get to work for you one day," Elendriel said with the utmost sincerity. "It's been my dream ever since I was a little girl!"

"But you are a little girl," Sean indicated.

"Shut up," Elendriel grittily muttered to him.

"Kids, go have some cake while Mister Fury and I talk," Ciciley directed her children, and they did as their mother requested, leaving her alone with the S.H.I.E.L.D. director and her lifelong friend. "There's a birthday present in your hand, Nicholas. But something tells me you're not here for a piece of cake."

Fury frowned. "No, I'm afraid this isn't a social visit. You've been reported to the Mojave Desert A.S.A.P. for an important assignment."

It was just what she anticipated him to be there for.

"Dammit, Nicholas," she berated under her breath, trying her best not to let her children hear. "I'm retired, man! I mean, this is my son's birthday party you're crashing, for cryin' out loud! Why don't you go bother Nicole instead? I'm sure she'll be more than ready to—"