My fist rapped on a metal door, giving my knuckles some pain. The door swung open a few moments later, revealing a man of medium height and a physically fit frame.

    “Nathaniel?” A smile tugged at his lips as he hesitated to step aside, “Wha—what are you doing here?”

    I nodded sharply, “Let me in, I’ve got to talk to you.”

    “Yeah, sure thing,” he slid to the right, allowing me to enter. I stepped in quickly and set my satchel and back pack on a couch, sitting down a moment later.

    After shutting the door, the man, whose name was Joel Kennedy, joined me on a piece of furniture opposite my position, “I thought I’d never hear from you again.”

    “Well, you wouldn’t have if this crisis hadn’t happened,” I sighed, reexperiencing my wife’s death.

    “Crisis?”

    “Hydra took over S.H.I.E.L.D., killed my wife, and kidnapped my daughter.”

    “Tamsen?” He gasped as a look of horror washed over his face, “Killed?”

    “Don’t suddenly act like you care.” I growled, “I’ve come here—”

    “I always cared, Creed,” Joel interrupted, “Just because you took her from me while I was—”

    “I didn’t come here to scratch old scabs, Joel. I came here for one reason: Information.”

    Joel gulped, collecting his emotions, “Very well. What, what kind of information are you looking for? I’m sure I can help.”

    “I need you to find where Hydra has imprisoned my daughter. Once you’ve done that, I need detailed blueprints on the building she’s being held in.”

    Joel nodded, “I might be able to. But if it’s really Hydra, it will be extremely tough for me to get into their security.”

    “Can you do anything with this? Change its coding a little bit, maybe?” I handed him my Level 6 security card which I knew must’ve been revoked from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems after my escape.

    Joel’s eyebrows raised, “Possibly. I could maybe use the same pattern and try to nail down a random pattern that, if we’re lucky, will match a real security code.” He stood up and wiped his eyes, “Ya’ want some yogurt or beer?”

    I shook my head, “No thanks.”

    “Well, I’ll be right back cuz I want some.” He wandered off toward his kitchen.

    Stretching back into the couch, I looked around at Joel’s household items in the room. The ceiling hung low, lower than the house I’d lived in with Tamsen and Talitha, and the drapes made the house really dark, giving the house a cave-like feeling.

Joel returned with his yogurt and beer and plopped into an armchair, “So, is there anyone you know is entirely responsible for Hydra taking over?”

    “Well, I learned yesterday that Alexander Hamilton, one of the Executive Directors of S.H.I.E.L.D., was secretly with Hydra. He helped with the transition.”

    “Alexander Hamilton!?” Joel exclaimed, choking down a gulp of his beer, “Why?”

    I shrugged, “How am I supposed to know? I was just a meathead. Apparently, I had been working for Hydra this whole time.”

    “That’s too bad,” Joel commented under a mouthful of yogurt, “I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was finally an uncorrupt government organization that had earth’s interests at heart.”

    I nodded in agreement, “That’s what I believed.”

    “So now they’ve got your daughter? That is just the worst. The good part is that they won’t hurt her. I mean, of course they’ll hurt her, but they won’t kill her or anything. They’ll most likely try and brainwash her into some kind of experiment or soldier. You’ve got to get to work soon, or your daughter won’t even recognize your face.”

    My eyes flared wide open as I sat up on the couch, “So, why don’t you get your fat butt up and go start on those blueprints instead of wasting time giving me small talk and eating garbage food?”

    A deer-in-the-headlights look crossed Joel’s face, “Um, ok.”

    I stood up, “I’ll be back later to check up on what you find.”

Joel set his refreshments on his coffee table and got up from his seat to shake my hand, “I’ll do the best I can.” His face wrinkled in confusion as we shook hands, “Where did you get a grip like that?” he joked.

    I grinned for the first time since my arrival here, slightly loosening my hold on his hand till we let go, “Yeah, I crafted something of a super soldier serum that I ingested during an attack by Hydra where I was working. It’s given me superior strength to that of your average bodybuilder.”

    Joel nodded, smiling, “Dude, that’s awesome. Can I get some of this?”

    I shook my head, “I smashed what else I had during the emergency. I probably should’ve taken them with me, but I didn’t think it was safe to do that.”

    “Alrighty, man. I’ll see you later.”

    “Yes, work hard.” I left out the front door and headed toward my apartment.

    “Hey!”

    I turned to address the speaker to find a young man in a white, baggy t-shirt approaching me.

    “Hey, are you new here?”
smoke emanated from his mouth as he spoke, obviously being a smoker.
    “Yes, I suppose. I’m just passing through.” I answered calmly, becoming extra aware of my surroundings.

    Two other guys came from a building to accompany the first one, “Well, if you’re passing through, you’ve gotta pay a fee.”

I sighed, realizing this wasn’t going to be a social gathering, “Listen, I don’t want any trouble. I'm not a part of any gangs or drug cartels, ok. Leave me alone.”

    Four other guys in baggy shirts creeped up behind me. I could tell they were slowly pushing me off the sidewalk. The white-shirted fellow whipped out a pocket knife,     “Sure,” His eyes locked with mine as adrenaline sizzled through our veins. I projected a fierce attitude to intimidate them. Men like these normally have low self-esteems and are quick to back out. The man with the knife lunged at me, flailing his knife in random slashes. My reflexes allowed me to snatch his hand, in the middle of a strike, that I immediately twisted until his arm broke at the elbow. I kicked his right leg out from under him, making him plunge face-first into the concrete beneath us.

    His companions shot each other surprised glances as they tried to silently communicate what to do next. The next bold attacker charged me from behind. Catching a glimpse of his moving figure, I flipped backward, allowing him to rush underneath me and into another guy who had just stepped forward to assault me from the front. They collided theatrically and stumbled to the floor. The remaining bullies stood dumbfounded by my flip.

    “Nice stunt, grandpa.” An obviously prideful jerk commented.

    I shook my head, “I don’t have time for this,” and leapt over the three men that blocked my path, landing about ten feet away from them. Looking back with a smile, I raced off into the largeness of the city.