Earth's Mightiest Heroes

It's Just Not The Same

Once we were back at Shield I stalked into Eyepatch's office.

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" I snapped.

"I didn't lie," he replied, "Agent Barton had a different mission than yours."

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share."

"I'm not obliged to do anything."

"Those hostages could've died, Nick."

"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen."

I crossed my arms over my chest, "Soldiers trust each other, that's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around and shooting guns."

"The last time I trusted someone," he said standing up from his desk, "I lost an eye. Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Barton is comfortable with everything."

"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own."

"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."

"Except you," I pointed out.

"You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that." He walked around his desk and out of his office. I followed him into the elevator. "Insight Bay," he told the computer.

"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight," the computer replied. Of course I don't. I practically was the reason for Shield being created and they hide things from me. Idiots.

"Director override, Fury, Nicholas J."

"Confirmed." The elevator started moving.

"You know," I commented, "they used to play music."

"Yeah," Eyepatch replied, "My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years. My granddad worked in a nice building, he got good tips. He'd walk home every night, roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say 'hi', people would say hi back. Time went on, neighborhood got rougher. He'd say 'Hi', they'd say, "Keep on steppin'. Granddad got to grippin' that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Did he ever get mugged?" I questioned.

"Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?"

"Well, what did he do?"

"He'd show 'em. A bunch of crumpled ones and loaded 0.22 Magnum." He smiled, "Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."

I gaped as I looked out the window of the elevator.

Eyepatch chuckled, "Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a 0.22."

We got off the elevator and walked around a bit.

"This is Project Insight," he explained, "Three next generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites."

"Launched from the Lemurian Star," I said.

"Once we get them in the air they never need to come down. Continuous suborbital flight courtesy of our new repulsor engines."

"Stark?"

"Well, he had a few suggestions once he got up close look at our old turbines. These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime."

"We can't afford to wait that long."

"Who's 'we'?"