Omniscience in Marvel

Title - Suspicious Situation

…

Meredith hummed softly as she moved through the kitchen, preparing a tray of refreshments for David and his mysterious visitor.

The visit had come unexpectedly, but Meredith was used to her husband's strange…quirks.

She poured the tea, adding a few slices of lemon just as David liked it, and arranged the sandwiches neatly on a silver platter. A small, satisfied smile played itself to her lips as she admired her work before making her way to the sitting room.

But just as she made her way back to the sitting room where she had left them, Meredith paused due to the deafening silence and strange stillness that settled over the house.

This immediately put her on edge as she could vividly remember the low voice of David and Lucas. Now though, she couldn't hear the usual low rumble of conversation.

Frowning, she quickened her pace and stepped into the room—only to find it completely empty.

The tray slipped slightly in her hands, her breath catching in her throat but she quickly regained her composure.

"David?" she called out, her voice shaky. "Honey?"

There was no response.

The seconds of deafening silence passed as panic started to rise within her. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of them, or at the very least, a sign of struggle to indicate an abduction.

The door was slightly ajar, but there was no indication they had left through it. Meredith put down the tray with trembling hands and hurried through the house.

"David?!" she yelled louder, her heartbeat loud enough that she could hear it. "David, where are you?"

Her voice rose with every step she took.

Her cries rang through the quaint house, but still, there was no answer. As her panic grew, she didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching from outside until someone appeared at the doorway.

Nicholas had been standing by the car, keeping a casual lookout after driving Lucas to the destination.

As an agent, he knew better than to ask about a mission objective above his clearance from a superior. Lucas was a superior, a curious one and his instincts told him something wasn't quite right with him.

He didn't know what it was, but he felt he was hiding something.

That was his spy gut instincts.

At the moment though, the most curious thing was the distressed voice of a woman coming from the house Lucas had just entered. The woman's distress certainly wasn't something he could ignore.

He approached, pulling out a fake FBI badge in one swift movement. "Ma'am, FBI. I need to know what's going on."

Meredith's panic-stricken eyes landed on Nicholas. In her current state of mind, she didn't question the badge or his sudden presence. "It's my husband—David. And…Lucas, the man who came to visit him! They've disappeared, and I—I don't know where they went! One moment they were here, and the next—" She gestured helplessly, her voice breaking.

Nicholas' brow furrowed. He quickly went into professional mode, pocketing his badge. "Alright. I need you to stay calm. We'll search the house together."

Grateful for the help, Meredith nodded rapidly before following behind Nicholas as they began sweeping the building.

They moved quickly through each room, checking every corner, calling out David's name repeatedly.

Nicholas kept his eyes sharp, his mind running through every possible explanation, but nothing made sense.

He was sure there were no signs of struggles whatsoever and even if they were so professional that they didn't leave a single clue upon departure, Fury was confident that he could've seen something…anything.

However,

The house was still; it didn't feel right. No sign of struggle, no clues to where they could've gone. Nothing.

Nicholas was already at his wits end minutes into their search, and just at that moment, the ground beneath them suddenly shook violently.

'An earthquake—' Nicholas thought to himself. However this was unlike any he had experienced before.

The walls shook, and furniture toppled over as the entire house groaned as though under some stress.

"Get down!" Nicholas shouted as he grabbed Meredith's arm before pulling her toward the doorway just as a light fixture crashed to the floor behind them.

They stumbled outside into the open air, breathing heavily as the ground beneath their feet continued to tremble.

Meredith clutched her chest, her eyes wide with fear. But just as suddenly as the quake had begun, it stopped. The world fell eerily silent again, save for the quiet settling of the earth.

"What was that?" Meredith gasped, her voice barely above a whisper.

Nicholas's eyes scanned the surroundings as he quickly reached for his pager to call for backup and report what had just happened.

His fingers worked swiftly, but when he glanced down at the screen, his frown deepened.

"No signal," he muttered, shaking the device. "I can't get through to anyone. There's no network."

He tried again, but the result was the same…nothing. Other than the already festering frustration, an even greater amount of confusion filled his mind as he turned toward Meredith, who was still trembling slightly from the shock of everything.

Then, as if on cue, David and Lucas emerged from the house, both appearing entirely unbothered and unaffected by what had just transpired.

"David!" Meredith cried out upon seeing him and rushed toward him. She threw her arms around him, clinging to him in desperation. "What happened? Where did you go? Are you alright?"

David smiled warmly, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm fine, Meredith. Don't worry. Lucas and I had some... things to take care of."

Meredith pulled back slightly, her eyes searching his face for reassurance. "But the earthquake—the house—it was shaking. I thought…"

"It's nothing," David said, cutting her off with a gentle tone. "A minor disturbance. Everything's under control."

Nicholas stood a few steps away, his arms crossed as he scrutinized the scene with narrowed eyes.

He didn't like this. Not one bit. There was something off about both men.

The timing of their disappearance, the earthquake, and now this casual dismissal of what had clearly been a dangerous event.

His instincts screamed at him to be cautious.

Lucas caught Nicholas's gaze and gave a small, knowing smile. "It seems the universe has its own way of testing our resolve," he said cryptically, his tone light yet deliberate.

David chuckled in response. "Indeed, Lucas. But we managed just fine, didn't we?"

Meredith glanced between them, her confusion evident. "Testing your resolve? What are you talking about?"

"Just a little... discussion between two old friends," Lucas replied, his eyes never leaving Nicholas. "But don't worry, Meredith. Everything is exactly as it should be."

Nicholas didn't miss the weight behind Lucas's words.

He stood stiff with a guarded posture, as if ready to spring into action at any moment. "If everything's fine, we'll be heading out now," Nicholas said, his tone low and controlled. "Thanks for the hospitality."

David's smile never faltered. "Of course. It was a pleasure meeting you…" David tilted his head while regarding Fury. "Nicholas. Perhaps our paths will cross again."

As they turned to leave, Lucas nodded to David/Ego one last time. "Until next time."

Meredith watched as Nicholas and Lucas walked away, her heart still pounding in her chest. She clung to David's arm as though gearing he'd disappear.

She felt a bit uneasy and that feeling didn't leave her. Something wasn't right.

And she knew it.

…

The purring engine of the vintage 1980 Cadillac Eldorado hummed through the noisy streets of New York as the city lights flickered in the background.

Nicholas Fury sat in the driver's seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel, but his mind was far from calm.

He couldn't shake off the strange encounter he'd witnessed in the house, and the unsettling quake that rattled everything inside the building still clung to him like a bad dream.

Something about it was wrong…off even, and he couldn't quite piece together why.

He glanced up, his gaze catching the figure of Lucas in the rearview mirror.

Lucas was sitting in the back, his expression unreadable as he looked outside, yet calm, as if the entire ordeal hadn't phased him one bit.

The streetlights shone on his face intermittently as they passed under the street lights, casting strange shadows across his frame.

Nicholas's eyes lingered in the mirror, studying the man.

There was something unnerving about him, he was too composed.

Nicholas had encountered plenty of unusual characters during his time as a field operative, but Lucas stood apart. He felt it in his gut. This was something new…different.

Suddenly, Lucas's voice broke through the silence.

"Staring alone won't help you put together the puzzle in your head, Nicholas."

Nicholas snapped his eyes back to the road, caught off guard by Lucas's perceptiveness.

He cleared his throat, allowing the tension in his muscles to ease only slightly. "Apologies," Nicholas muttered, feeling a pang of embarrassment for being caught staring.

But Lucas merely waved a hand, dismissing the apology as if it were nothing. "No need for apologies, Nicholas. It's only natural for someone like you to be curious." His voice was light, almost teasing, but there was a confident authority behind his words. "But tell me, what is it you're really curious about?"

Nicholas kept his eyes on the road, gripping the wheel tighter as he processed Lucas's words.

His gut told him to be cautious, yet the spy in him demanded answers. However, he'd been through too much in his career not to recognize when someone was playing mind games and.

But Lucas—he was different. He wasn't just playing games. He seemed to know the rules better than anyone Nicholas had ever met.

By opening the way for Nichola to ask whatever he wanted, he would have no other option than to believe whatever Lucas told him. Afterall, he didn't even know the first thing about what happened back there.

"I'm curious about a lot of things," Nicholas responded, his voice steady. "Why don't you enlighten me?"

Lucas chuckled softly, "Enlighten you? I think you already know, Fury. You feel it… the shift."

"Huh?" Fury muttered aloud in confusion and looked into the rear mirror only to catch Lucas' gaze. He could feel Lucas' amusement through his eyes, but he didn't understand.

Suddenly, as though a bulb lit up on his head, "The Earthquake." He blurred out only to frown again in confusion. "What-"

"Keep your eyes on the road Fury." He was about to question Lucas again only for Lucas to interrupt, and right on cue, Fury was about to crash his Vintage Cadillac.

"Motherfucker!" Fury shouted as he steered the car out of the way, and just as he was about to return to his conversation with Lucas, he looked away again and muttered.

"Things aren't the way they seem. What you saw back there, that was just the surface." Lucas said ambiguously.

Nicholas's heart rate quickened slightly. He hadn't seen the cracks in reality at Ego's place, however, he had witnessed the eerie calm that seemed to blanket over the chaotic situation back then.

The way both Ego(David) and Lucas seemed completely unfazed by the earthquake when they came out of the building left question marks in his head.

And now Lucas was confirming it. "You're saying it wasn't a coincidence," Nicholas said, narrowing his eyes as he glanced in the rearview mirror again.

"Nothing in this world is coincidence," Lucas replied, his tone taking a darker tone from his previously calm and amused one.

Nicholas's knuckles tightened on the wheel as Lucas's words sank in. His gut twisted, screaming at him that something was far bigger at play.

But before he could pry further, Lucas leaned forward slightly, his calm demeanor returning as though the tension from a moment ago had never existed.

"You'll get your answers, Fury," Lucas said smoothly, his voice now a gentle murmur as if concluding their cryptic conversation. "But tonight isn't the night for that."

Fury shot another glance into the rearview mirror, his eyes scanning Lucas's face, but it revealed nothing. No sign of urgency, no sign of fear. Just control.

Total, unnerving control.

Lucas smirked slightly, picking up on Fury's attempt to read him. "Now, take me to the headquarters. There are… other matters to attend to."

Nicholas's jaw tightened, irritation simmering beneath the surface at how easily Lucas dismissed the magnitude of what just transpired. Yet, he knew there was no point in pushing further—not now.

Lucas' clearance level was just so high above his and there was nothing he could do about that.

"Fine," Fury muttered, voice curt. "But this isn't over."

"Of course not," Lucas replied smoothly. "This is only the beginning."

Nicholas shifted gears, his mind still racing with a thousand questions, he knew better than to press Lucas for answers since he knew they would come as long his clearance was high enough.

With this last thought, the Cadillac roared as Fury sped toward their next destination.