Shadows Inc. Journal
History File 03
Along came a Hydra
Roll Call : Anthony Baker a.k.a. Sleuth
Derek Lone a.k.a. Scythe
Guest Appearance: Gabriel Jones agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Antagonists : HYDRA, (the HAND)
“Are you sure you’ve given us all the pertinent information Mr. Baker?” This statement coming form a clean cut, African American, in a black suit that reminds Tony somehow of the movie, ‘Men in Black’ – but the suit was all he had in common with the movie, as the rest of him looked like he was more built like… well, Wesley Snipes, minus the attitude... and a decade older. But his stance, and demeanor aside, Baker could read the battle readiness of this person, should the need arise.
This told him something, even if the man in front of him had not told him so… this was no ordinary federal officer – then again, he never did say he was from the F.B.I. Though there were some of those people too, this man and his equally built partner – both wearing shades as they entered, waved the FBI boys aside with their identifications. Needless to say, the FBI boys were not thrilled, but these guys apparently won the right to talk to both Baker and Lone… alone.
“I believe I’ve mentioned everything to you, Mr. Jones…”; while thinking if ‘Jones’ really is his first name… though he was not in any position to argue with the man right now. Nope, Baker had to think that had this man wanted both him and Derek lone dead, he’d have done so already.
Mr. Jones looks at him – then to Derek for a few seconds then stands up from the couch, he straightens his suit jacket, pulls something from out of his pocket and says “Okay then… we’ll be on our way, but should you remember anything else, please do not hesitate to give us a call”, while offering his card to Tony.
As his partner leaves, he pauses for a while – as if to try and remember something, then does – “Oh, yeah… by the way, those guys that allegedly attacked you…”
“Alleged?! What, you don’t really believe us?” blurts Derek.
Facing Derek , Mr. Jones simple states matter-of-factly, “Alleged… Mr. Lone, because as we are all aware, there is no body – and with exception to ashes and some loose ninja-type clothing, there IS no proof of these ninjas ever having been here. I’m just stating facts… and to be blunt… no… I don’t trust you. You both seem to be hiding something, and rather than be helpful to us, I find your story plausible – bus as believable as disappearing ninjas.”
“So we can do it this way… I’ll turn you two back to the FBI – after all, you’ve proven to be of little help and less use to us. Let them go by the book with you guys… or we can start all over again, I’ll see what I can do with our friends down the corridor”, pointing to where the FBI had withdrawn to.
A moment of silence fills the room, until Tony finally breaks the ice… “Mr. Jones – I hope you see my position… I was just recently attacked by your ‘alleged’ ninjas, putting me near death. My partner here, Mr. Lone, nearly had the same fate, had it not been timely for emergency room staff and nurses to get to him when they did.”
“Given this scenario, we’re still shaken up and recovering as best we can. We’ve been cooped up here for three days, and I’m beginning to wonder if there’s still something wrong with us, or whether… this is an elaborate ruse to get me – us to stay here for as long as the authorities want.”
“Fair enough, Mr. Baker. Tell you what I’ll do. I’m willing to give you 24 hours to get things in order – set your place up and all, after which, I will expect a call or visit from you two with whatever else information you may have about our good friend, Doctor Mitchell. We’ve contacted his family, but since you were the last people to see him before his death, I’m hoping he said or showed you something… anything that may have been part of his work, and definitely something that might be the reason for him losing his life.”
“That’s a generous offer, gentlemen… one I’m not in the habit of giving out freely to anyone. I suggest you take it to think thins through – oh, and by the way, Mr. Lone… you are an intriguing case from my standpoint. I can’t seem to find any records of you since your brief military service, and that in itself raises some flags – I’ve read some suspected gun-running or smuggling cases, and I believe our FBI friends would really want to keep you here, under their care longer. But cooperate with me on this, and I can keep them at arm’s length. Your choice.”
And seeing Baker’s reaction to this, Mr. Jones simple says “Oh, you didn’t know? Well, that explains it. You might want to get to know ‘your partner’ a little better Detective… he may be handy in a gun battle, but you have to know why that is so. Anyway, I’ll say my goodbyes… 24 hours gentlemen.”
As the door closes, Tony is about to talk, but Derek raises a hand and says in low tones “Not yet…” while eyeing the shadows from under the door’s lower gap against the waxed hospital floor. He then produces a small device, turns it on and sets it on the table before he say “…okay, now we can talk.”
Baker looks at the device wondering, ‘where’d he hide that?’, but shakes the thought back to discuss more immediate things. Derek notices him taking a deep breath before finally starting with “Mind telling what that comment and this gizmo is all about? Are you wanted or anything like that?”
Lone picks himself up, goes to the closet to get his clothes as he talks, “Remember what I said in the diner about gifts?” To which Tony vaguely recalls… the two of them, having a conversation just after Charlie insisted that Tony’s meal was on the house…
Him starting the conversation by asking… “Mr. Lone, I hope you don’t mind my asking a question…”; “Hey, no problem – lets hear it.”, is the reply he gets... oh, and call me Derek.”
“All right, Derek, why do you avoid becoming the center of attention? I mean, first you disappear after the escaped Gorilla was solved, and now – right after your ape impression… when people were starting to look our way, I notice you duck out again?”
Derek looks straight into his eye and answers matter-of-factly, “Well Tony, hope I can call you that…” Tony nods, and Derek continues”, “I’m not too fond of attention, and I’d be happy if I’m just ignored by most strangers. I carefully choose my friends…” this said, as he gestures to Charlie, and I’d rather be safe than sorry. I added that, since I noticed you wonder earlier why I chose this particular sitting place.”
“How did you…?” Tony starts asks – obviously taken by surprise, “Relax Tony, I don’t read minds – but I can read faces, and you just don’t have a poker face, so your eyes, eyebrows and mouth were dead giveaways… just like now.”
Tony catches himself and composes his features. He clearly feels at a disadvantage here, so he goes straight to the point. “Derek, please, no more games, what are we doing here? Why did you want to meet?”
“All business now, huh? Okay… Like I said Tony, I can read people well – it’s a talent I have, but it’s not my real talent. I’m guessing, by what I’ve observed about you in the Gorilla event that you may have some hidden talents too… and maybe, just maybe, we can be partners in setting up an investigation agency – I mean, hope you don’t mind, but I Googled you – basically learned about your past through all the articles the internet could find, and through that, I also know why you’re here.”
‘He Googled me?’, Thinks Tony… ‘why didn’t I think of doing the same thing to Mr. Lone?’ “You’d hardly find anything about me… remember? Low profile?” Tony giving Derek an annoyed look is confirmation that he guessed right again, and he backs out “Hey, Just saying… I again noticed your expression when I mentioned Google. Hope I didn’t freak you”
“No, you didn’t” Tony lies… waiting to see if Derek would react. He does not – which means, he either got away with it, or Derek allowed him to. “Anyway…” he brings the topic back on track, “… you were saying about talents? What do you mean?” This time, Derek notices, Tony is keeping his emotions close to his sleeve – not betraying it with any facial expression.
“Call it a hunch… but your investigative acumen, those cases you solved – even the cold ones… I don’t know why no one thought about it before, but no one’s that good, Tony… you’re keeping something close to your sleeve, and I’m going out of my way here in guessing it may be a special talent you have… maybe a power of sorts?”
As he mentions this last statement, Derek closely observes Tony’s reaction – and there it is, a slight raise of the eyebrow, the pupil dilating before Tony gives a reply… “Powers…? Ridiculous.”
Derek looks at Tony for a few heartbeats, before he says “Alright, so you don’t want to talk about it.”, then after looking left and right, making sure no one is listening or looking at them, he leans closer… “What if I showed you my special talent?”
Tony returns from his recalling their conversation, and looks at Derek, who by now is almost fully dressed up and handing him his set of clothes… “You said you were going to show me your ‘talents’…, Baker mentions, as he accepts the clothes. “… but our conversation was cut when we both noticed Dr. Mitchell coming out from the alley.”
“Yup, never did get to show you that, as things just became too hectic for us.” Lone confirms… “But I guess, now’s as good as any.”, and with this statement, Derek brings out a few handguns from his pockets, plus a few items that look like grenades. He gets the reaction he was expecting, an incredulous look by Baker – seeing yet, not entirely believing what he saw before him, yet reacting first to what he did notice… “Are you insane?! Put all those things away!”, then after a second or two, as he does what Tony said – “Hold on… where were you keeping all those, how come no one in the hospital or security got to see those?”
“That… detective is my talent. I don’t need these pockets, nor this coat – this is just to allay suspicion, but these armaments come from somewhere and I can pull them out or put them back in, just by touching them.”
“So you’ve an endless supply of those?” Baker asks, starting to grasp the ‘talent’. “Well, not exactly… I can pull out what I put in – but I can’t just whip out anything that I have not placed in… if that makes sense to you. Think of it this way… I have… for lack of a better word, a personal portable storage area somewhere from not around here. It allows me to keep things, and have them within reach on the need to use basis – all I have to think is Glock, and presto… ”, a Glock pistol appears at his left hand… “…or I think Gatorade, and…”, a Gatorade, grape flavor, appears in his right hand.
“So whad ya think?” asks Lone with a smile that seems slightly like a smirk, as he lets both times disappear again.
“That is amazing! Doesn’t that mean you’re some kind of mutant?” asks Tony. “That is why I wear the trench coat – it’s to disguise my ‘talents’… after all, you’ve seen how popular mutants can be… and I don’t want the publicity either way.” Seeing Baker fully dressed now, he gestures to the dor while picking up his little gizmo – “C’mon, we’ve got less than 24 hours to get things in order… so lets not waste it here.”
“Don’t tell me… you even got the kitchen sink in there too?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, how do you expect me to use a kitchen sink as a weapon?”
As they leave the hospital, they walk towards baker’s pad, and maybe… due to their previous encounter, thus keeping them keenly aware fo their surroundings, the two men spot a few people in the crowd shadowing them…, as they try to loose their tail and round a corner, closer inspection by Lone, with the help of a mirror reveal that there are several of them, and having lost the two – they decide to split up.
One of their followers, move toward their direction, upon reaching their corner, he gets ambushed and dragged in by both Derek and Lone, and is quickly rendered unconscious. While Lone looks to see if his companions noticed their friend suddenly missing, Baker looks through the man’s clothing for any identification.
What he sees instead, gives him some sudden goose bumps. Hidden inside the man’s normal clothing seems to be some kind of small scientific device – one that does not look like a communicator – but when turned off, the man’s clothes suddenly change into a green uniform, one with some yellow trimmings forming the letter ‘H’ on the chest. Though he has never met any of these types before, Baker well recognizes the uniform and what it represents.
“Derek…” he says in a slightly tentative manner.
“In a minute… just need to make sure we weren’t noticed.” Is the reply Baker gets.
“I think I know who they are…” is all Baker can say. To which Lone finally takes a peek, followed by some swear words, before Baker confirms what Lone finds obvious with the uniform… “He’s from HYDRA… they’re from HYDRA… we’re being followed by HYDRA!”
“No $h!t, Sherlock… I kinda came to that conclusion a few second ago… now what?” Is all Lone can say as he adds a little sarcasm to rum the near panic state tha the hears from Baker, as he stares at the unconscious body of a HYDRA agent.
“Now?" Baker takes a deep breath and grounds himself, "Now we really have to get help…"; though this time the words come out matter-of-fact like, "We’re being chased by Ninjas and Terrorists, whatever is in that vial must be really important." Looking at Derek, he continues "I think its time to give Mr. Jones a call. We need help with this… this is way over our heads.” Baker says, while pulling out a cell phone and shaking his head.
Lone, however, notices the demeanor of Baker - that of a man pushed back more than enough, and now getting ready to take a stand.
History File 03
Along came a Hydra
Roll Call : Anthony Baker a.k.a. Sleuth
Derek Lone a.k.a. Scythe
Guest Appearance: Gabriel Jones agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Antagonists : HYDRA, (the HAND)
“Are you sure you’ve given us all the pertinent information Mr. Baker?” This statement coming form a clean cut, African American, in a black suit that reminds Tony somehow of the movie, ‘Men in Black’ – but the suit was all he had in common with the movie, as the rest of him looked like he was more built like… well, Wesley Snipes, minus the attitude... and a decade older. But his stance, and demeanor aside, Baker could read the battle readiness of this person, should the need arise.
This told him something, even if the man in front of him had not told him so… this was no ordinary federal officer – then again, he never did say he was from the F.B.I. Though there were some of those people too, this man and his equally built partner – both wearing shades as they entered, waved the FBI boys aside with their identifications. Needless to say, the FBI boys were not thrilled, but these guys apparently won the right to talk to both Baker and Lone… alone.
“I believe I’ve mentioned everything to you, Mr. Jones…”; while thinking if ‘Jones’ really is his first name… though he was not in any position to argue with the man right now. Nope, Baker had to think that had this man wanted both him and Derek lone dead, he’d have done so already.
Mr. Jones looks at him – then to Derek for a few seconds then stands up from the couch, he straightens his suit jacket, pulls something from out of his pocket and says “Okay then… we’ll be on our way, but should you remember anything else, please do not hesitate to give us a call”, while offering his card to Tony.
As his partner leaves, he pauses for a while – as if to try and remember something, then does – “Oh, yeah… by the way, those guys that allegedly attacked you…”
“Alleged?! What, you don’t really believe us?” blurts Derek.
Facing Derek , Mr. Jones simple states matter-of-factly, “Alleged… Mr. Lone, because as we are all aware, there is no body – and with exception to ashes and some loose ninja-type clothing, there IS no proof of these ninjas ever having been here. I’m just stating facts… and to be blunt… no… I don’t trust you. You both seem to be hiding something, and rather than be helpful to us, I find your story plausible – bus as believable as disappearing ninjas.”
“So we can do it this way… I’ll turn you two back to the FBI – after all, you’ve proven to be of little help and less use to us. Let them go by the book with you guys… or we can start all over again, I’ll see what I can do with our friends down the corridor”, pointing to where the FBI had withdrawn to.
A moment of silence fills the room, until Tony finally breaks the ice… “Mr. Jones – I hope you see my position… I was just recently attacked by your ‘alleged’ ninjas, putting me near death. My partner here, Mr. Lone, nearly had the same fate, had it not been timely for emergency room staff and nurses to get to him when they did.”
“Given this scenario, we’re still shaken up and recovering as best we can. We’ve been cooped up here for three days, and I’m beginning to wonder if there’s still something wrong with us, or whether… this is an elaborate ruse to get me – us to stay here for as long as the authorities want.”
“Fair enough, Mr. Baker. Tell you what I’ll do. I’m willing to give you 24 hours to get things in order – set your place up and all, after which, I will expect a call or visit from you two with whatever else information you may have about our good friend, Doctor Mitchell. We’ve contacted his family, but since you were the last people to see him before his death, I’m hoping he said or showed you something… anything that may have been part of his work, and definitely something that might be the reason for him losing his life.”
“That’s a generous offer, gentlemen… one I’m not in the habit of giving out freely to anyone. I suggest you take it to think thins through – oh, and by the way, Mr. Lone… you are an intriguing case from my standpoint. I can’t seem to find any records of you since your brief military service, and that in itself raises some flags – I’ve read some suspected gun-running or smuggling cases, and I believe our FBI friends would really want to keep you here, under their care longer. But cooperate with me on this, and I can keep them at arm’s length. Your choice.”
And seeing Baker’s reaction to this, Mr. Jones simple says “Oh, you didn’t know? Well, that explains it. You might want to get to know ‘your partner’ a little better Detective… he may be handy in a gun battle, but you have to know why that is so. Anyway, I’ll say my goodbyes… 24 hours gentlemen.”
As the door closes, Tony is about to talk, but Derek raises a hand and says in low tones “Not yet…” while eyeing the shadows from under the door’s lower gap against the waxed hospital floor. He then produces a small device, turns it on and sets it on the table before he say “…okay, now we can talk.”
Baker looks at the device wondering, ‘where’d he hide that?’, but shakes the thought back to discuss more immediate things. Derek notices him taking a deep breath before finally starting with “Mind telling what that comment and this gizmo is all about? Are you wanted or anything like that?”
Lone picks himself up, goes to the closet to get his clothes as he talks, “Remember what I said in the diner about gifts?” To which Tony vaguely recalls… the two of them, having a conversation just after Charlie insisted that Tony’s meal was on the house…
Him starting the conversation by asking… “Mr. Lone, I hope you don’t mind my asking a question…”; “Hey, no problem – lets hear it.”, is the reply he gets... oh, and call me Derek.”
“All right, Derek, why do you avoid becoming the center of attention? I mean, first you disappear after the escaped Gorilla was solved, and now – right after your ape impression… when people were starting to look our way, I notice you duck out again?”
Derek looks straight into his eye and answers matter-of-factly, “Well Tony, hope I can call you that…” Tony nods, and Derek continues”, “I’m not too fond of attention, and I’d be happy if I’m just ignored by most strangers. I carefully choose my friends…” this said, as he gestures to Charlie, and I’d rather be safe than sorry. I added that, since I noticed you wonder earlier why I chose this particular sitting place.”
“How did you…?” Tony starts asks – obviously taken by surprise, “Relax Tony, I don’t read minds – but I can read faces, and you just don’t have a poker face, so your eyes, eyebrows and mouth were dead giveaways… just like now.”
Tony catches himself and composes his features. He clearly feels at a disadvantage here, so he goes straight to the point. “Derek, please, no more games, what are we doing here? Why did you want to meet?”
“All business now, huh? Okay… Like I said Tony, I can read people well – it’s a talent I have, but it’s not my real talent. I’m guessing, by what I’ve observed about you in the Gorilla event that you may have some hidden talents too… and maybe, just maybe, we can be partners in setting up an investigation agency – I mean, hope you don’t mind, but I Googled you – basically learned about your past through all the articles the internet could find, and through that, I also know why you’re here.”
‘He Googled me?’, Thinks Tony… ‘why didn’t I think of doing the same thing to Mr. Lone?’ “You’d hardly find anything about me… remember? Low profile?” Tony giving Derek an annoyed look is confirmation that he guessed right again, and he backs out “Hey, Just saying… I again noticed your expression when I mentioned Google. Hope I didn’t freak you”
“No, you didn’t” Tony lies… waiting to see if Derek would react. He does not – which means, he either got away with it, or Derek allowed him to. “Anyway…” he brings the topic back on track, “… you were saying about talents? What do you mean?” This time, Derek notices, Tony is keeping his emotions close to his sleeve – not betraying it with any facial expression.
“Call it a hunch… but your investigative acumen, those cases you solved – even the cold ones… I don’t know why no one thought about it before, but no one’s that good, Tony… you’re keeping something close to your sleeve, and I’m going out of my way here in guessing it may be a special talent you have… maybe a power of sorts?”
As he mentions this last statement, Derek closely observes Tony’s reaction – and there it is, a slight raise of the eyebrow, the pupil dilating before Tony gives a reply… “Powers…? Ridiculous.”
Derek looks at Tony for a few heartbeats, before he says “Alright, so you don’t want to talk about it.”, then after looking left and right, making sure no one is listening or looking at them, he leans closer… “What if I showed you my special talent?”
Tony returns from his recalling their conversation, and looks at Derek, who by now is almost fully dressed up and handing him his set of clothes… “You said you were going to show me your ‘talents’…, Baker mentions, as he accepts the clothes. “… but our conversation was cut when we both noticed Dr. Mitchell coming out from the alley.”
“Yup, never did get to show you that, as things just became too hectic for us.” Lone confirms… “But I guess, now’s as good as any.”, and with this statement, Derek brings out a few handguns from his pockets, plus a few items that look like grenades. He gets the reaction he was expecting, an incredulous look by Baker – seeing yet, not entirely believing what he saw before him, yet reacting first to what he did notice… “Are you insane?! Put all those things away!”, then after a second or two, as he does what Tony said – “Hold on… where were you keeping all those, how come no one in the hospital or security got to see those?”
“That… detective is my talent. I don’t need these pockets, nor this coat – this is just to allay suspicion, but these armaments come from somewhere and I can pull them out or put them back in, just by touching them.”
“So you’ve an endless supply of those?” Baker asks, starting to grasp the ‘talent’. “Well, not exactly… I can pull out what I put in – but I can’t just whip out anything that I have not placed in… if that makes sense to you. Think of it this way… I have… for lack of a better word, a personal portable storage area somewhere from not around here. It allows me to keep things, and have them within reach on the need to use basis – all I have to think is Glock, and presto… ”, a Glock pistol appears at his left hand… “…or I think Gatorade, and…”, a Gatorade, grape flavor, appears in his right hand.
“So whad ya think?” asks Lone with a smile that seems slightly like a smirk, as he lets both times disappear again.
“That is amazing! Doesn’t that mean you’re some kind of mutant?” asks Tony. “That is why I wear the trench coat – it’s to disguise my ‘talents’… after all, you’ve seen how popular mutants can be… and I don’t want the publicity either way.” Seeing Baker fully dressed now, he gestures to the dor while picking up his little gizmo – “C’mon, we’ve got less than 24 hours to get things in order… so lets not waste it here.”
“Don’t tell me… you even got the kitchen sink in there too?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, how do you expect me to use a kitchen sink as a weapon?”
As they leave the hospital, they walk towards baker’s pad, and maybe… due to their previous encounter, thus keeping them keenly aware fo their surroundings, the two men spot a few people in the crowd shadowing them…, as they try to loose their tail and round a corner, closer inspection by Lone, with the help of a mirror reveal that there are several of them, and having lost the two – they decide to split up.
One of their followers, move toward their direction, upon reaching their corner, he gets ambushed and dragged in by both Derek and Lone, and is quickly rendered unconscious. While Lone looks to see if his companions noticed their friend suddenly missing, Baker looks through the man’s clothing for any identification.
What he sees instead, gives him some sudden goose bumps. Hidden inside the man’s normal clothing seems to be some kind of small scientific device – one that does not look like a communicator – but when turned off, the man’s clothes suddenly change into a green uniform, one with some yellow trimmings forming the letter ‘H’ on the chest. Though he has never met any of these types before, Baker well recognizes the uniform and what it represents.
“Derek…” he says in a slightly tentative manner.
“In a minute… just need to make sure we weren’t noticed.” Is the reply Baker gets.
“I think I know who they are…” is all Baker can say. To which Lone finally takes a peek, followed by some swear words, before Baker confirms what Lone finds obvious with the uniform… “He’s from HYDRA… they’re from HYDRA… we’re being followed by HYDRA!”
“No $h!t, Sherlock… I kinda came to that conclusion a few second ago… now what?” Is all Lone can say as he adds a little sarcasm to rum the near panic state tha the hears from Baker, as he stares at the unconscious body of a HYDRA agent.
“Now?" Baker takes a deep breath and grounds himself, "Now we really have to get help…"; though this time the words come out matter-of-fact like, "We’re being chased by Ninjas and Terrorists, whatever is in that vial must be really important." Looking at Derek, he continues "I think its time to give Mr. Jones a call. We need help with this… this is way over our heads.” Baker says, while pulling out a cell phone and shaking his head.
Lone, however, notices the demeanor of Baker - that of a man pushed back more than enough, and now getting ready to take a stand.
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