FBI: Chapter 74: So Excited

The next morning, bright and early.

Nick Fury was humming a West Coast rap track as he drove toward FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

He was in a good mood.

In fact, ever since Dante showed up, things had been steadily looking up.

Even his legendary paranoia was almost under control.

Just look at the current structure of the General Bureau: Professor X managing the FBI Academy and keeping the base stable, Fury himself overseeing operations from the center, while Dante and Coulson took charge on the frontlines.

It was perfect.

If there was one downside, it was that this little monster Dante kept bringing back increasingly terrifying allies—each one more ridiculous than the last.

He had already brought back two actual gods.

Oh, wait. According to the mission log Fury received on his terminal last night, the Goddess of Death's brother and the God of Mischief had also been abducted by Dante.

"Tch. First priority is updating the Bureau's energy detectors."

The monitoring room was lit up like a rave every day now. It was getting harder and harder on the eyes.

As he was thinking this, Fury had already driven into the FBI parking garage. He slid into his designated spot, locked the car, and headed into the building.

No sooner had he stepped into the lobby than someone approached.

"Director Fury."

"How’ve you been lately, May?"

"Aside from being babysitter to a whole squad of brats, not bad."

"Isn’t Steve Rogers on the team too?"

"A World War II vet who was frozen in the Arctic for decades is harder to deal with than any of the kids. He’s completely hopeless when it comes to adapting to modern society."

Melinda May's expression didn’t change much, but a faint trace of long-suffering resentment slipped through.

Fury didn’t press the issue. Instead, he moved on to something else.

"How’s Coulson doing these days?"

"Busy. He’s handling missions, training regimens, digging into that intel broker they call 'The Clairvoyant'… He's been so occupied he hasn’t had time to reflect on his resurrection."

"Good. Make sure no one brings up Project T.A.H.I.T.I. to him. Don’t push him to look for answers. Keeping him in the dark is the best way to protect him."

Fury couldn't help sighing every time he thought about T.A.H.I.T.I.

GH325, derived from the blood of a certain blue-skinned race—Fury still didn’t know the word Kree—was capable of saving FBI agents who were critically injured, dying, or even recently deceased.

At first, it seemed like a miracle cure.

Then it turned out to be a literal deal with the devil.

People resurrected with GH325 seemed normal at first… but eventually, they’d deteriorate. Hallucinations, compulsive drawing, speech loss, full catatonia. The mentally weaker ones ended up completely insane.

Eventually, they started erasing memories.

Which, of course, came with the lovely side effect of trauma worse than death.

By the time the project was shut down, some subjects had committed suicide. Others went mad.

“Have you ever told Agent Dante about Project T.A.H.I.T.I.?”

“Dante?” Fury paused and glanced sideways at May. “Why bring him into this? That project’s in the past. There’s no reason for him to know.”

“You need to let go of your old paranoia.” May didn’t flinch under his gaze. She’d been trained by Peggy Carter herself. “Even with all the new powerhouses running around the Bureau, Dante is still the strongest. He doesn’t just have multiple abilities—he’s constantly evolving new ones. He might be the only one capable of solving the T.A.H.I.T.I. aftermath. Coulson may seem fine for now, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“You care about Coulson more than I thought.”

Fury pressed the elevator button. They stepped in together.

“Sir, I’ve just had a stiff expression since childhood. Doesn't mean I don’t feel anything.”

May stood at attention behind Fury, hands clasped behind her back, left side aligned as if on parade.

“But Coulson’s emotional sense is the problem. He reacts like a block of wood,” Fury muttered, half-laughing. “Honestly, one of my biggest surprises in life is that you two never dated.”

May glared at the back of Fury’s head.

“He only ever accepts feelings passively. Never initiates. That’s why I ended up saying yes to Andrew. So take a lesson—men shouldn’t wait forever. Like how you shouldn’t wait for Dante to discover Coulson’s problem before telling him.”

“There you go again!”

“I always got first place in logical reasoning and debate. Just don’t show much emotion.”

Fury rolled his one good eye.

Thankfully, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open onto his floor.

He and May stepped out—

Only to find a man and woman already waiting inside his office.

The man was lounging on his desk, chatting comfortably with the woman on the sofa.

Fury pushed the door open and barked,

“Dante! Of all the places to sit, you just had to sit on my desk?!”

Naturally, the one on the desk was Dante.

Who else had the guts?

Okay, maybe Hela. But she couldn’t care less about desks.

“Oh hey, Fury. You’re here?” Dante flipped down from the desk with a light somersault. “And May, too? Great. Let me introduce you to a new friend.”

He gestured toward the brunette on the sofa.

She stood up, turning to face Fury and May.

Both of them froze.

“Hello, Nick Fury. And… Melinda May? So this timeline’s May became an FBI agent instead of the Supreme Justice?”

“You… you’re…”

Fury rubbed his eye, unsure if he was hallucinating.

Even Nick Fury couldn’t get a full sentence out.

“Oh, right! My bad—I got too excited seeing familiar faces and forgot introductions.”

“I’m Peggy Carter. Or to be exact, not your Peggy Carter. You can call me… Captain Carter.”

Dante watched as Fury and May stood there, completely stunned.

Then he slapped the desk and burst into laughter.

Shouting at me for sitting on your desk just because you're the leader, huh?

Then I’ll just bring back your leader!

Let’s see if you still dare reject my funding requests now!

(To be continued.)