Chapter Twenty-Seven

Fury strode down the dark sidewalk waiting for something to happen. Ever since he saved the girl in the alleyway, he had hungered for the next taste of adrenaline in his blood. He knew this was what he was meant to do. The cyborg understood what his life had been before the pain and the operations. His life had been larger than he had imagined, and probably bigger than Natasha knew.

He had considered telling her the truth. It was a revelation to discover he had worked on the police force. Natasha would have wanted to know that, but he was waiting for the right opportunity to tell her. Whenever Fury decided to open up to her, he would also have to explain what he hoped to do every time he walked out the door. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, and there was no point in making her worry. He wasn’t going to stop, no matter what anyone thought.

The rest of the first night had been quiet. The cyborg had been unable to find anyone else in need of assistance. But his failure only drove him to look harder the next time he went out. The neighborhood was more peaceful than before. Soft lights glowed from the houses around him. A dog barked in the distance, and a loud television blared through an open window. Everything felt normal.

Fury’s mind drifted back to the previous night’s escapades. They had taken place in a residential area only a few blocks from Natasha’s house, and he was eager to see the rest of the town. The tall streetlights, made to look like old-fashioned gaslights, had already been turned off for the evening. The traffic signals blinked red for the few cars on the street at the late hour. Downtown, stores stretched across either side of the road, offering pet supplies, dental services, and used clothing.

He would never have noticed anything amiss if he hadn’t been looking at everything. A flutter of movement through a window caught his eye.

Crossing the street to get closer, Fury inspected the sign of the business, which read Miller’s Jewelers. There were bars on the windows, but he could easily see inside. He had no distinct memories of jewelry stores, but he remembered that the employees were unlikely to work past midnight. They also didn’t wear dark sweatshirts and fitted skullcaps like the man currently behind the counter.

The intruder had a pillow case in one hand and used the other to unlock and empty each jewelry case swiftly. Pearls, diamonds, and gemstones poured into the bag like glittering liquid. The thief was leaving every display empty.

Fury considered the situation for a moment, staying far enough back from the building so the criminal could not see him. The cyborg could march into the store and apprehend the man. He didn’t look like he would be hard to take down. But then what would he do with him? There was no way to call the police without drawing attention to himself.

The soldier slipped around to the back of the building instead. Fury had some time before the thief was finished loading up his bag. He entered the building through the back door and crept through the store, ready to surprise the burglar. The bandit had his back to the cyborg as he emptied a case of birthstone jewelry.

“Can I help you find anything?” Fury asked.

The bandit spun around, nearly dropping his bag in surprise. He was only a couple of feet from the soldier, and his jaw met the force of Fury’s fist before he could attempt to flee. A set of keys flew out of the crook’s hands and landed with a crash on the tile floor.

Fury crossed the room to pick them up. The keys meant this was an inside job. The larcenist, who lay unconscious on the floor, either worked at the store or knew someone who did. It would make sense to trap him inside. Fury soon discovered that the front door could only be locked or unlocked with a key. Making sure the front door was secure, he retreated out the back door.

The rear entrance could be shoved open from the inside with the use of a crash bar, but Fury wasn’t about to let the thief escape that way. He found a dumpster in the alley, small enough to have no wheels but substantial enough to serve as an effective barricade, and shoved it in front of the back door. It scraped loudly on the asphalt. Fury planned to leave the area before anyone had time to investigate. The cyborg set the ring of keys carefully on the lid of the dumpster before disappearing on the other side of the alley.

Though he had partially satiated himself with the burglar, Fury continued to patrol the town, craving something more satisfying. The jewel thief had not put anyone in danger, and he couldn’t justify doing anything violent to him. Fury imagined the store clerks had come in and found the man in the morning, confused and injured but unable to leave the building. The cyborg wondered what the look was on the man’s face when he woke up.

Tonight, the action seemed to be hiding from him. He amplified the sound of the neighborhood, but he only heard cars in the distance and a woman singing her baby to sleep. Fury walked down a row of parked vehicles and frightened away a would-be carjacker with his presence. Everything else was uneventful.

It wasn’t until he turned the corner near a pizza restaurant that he noticed something odd. Shadows partially concealed a figure. The only indication of his presence was the red light of a cigarette ember. Fury saw him, but loitering was not a crime. He moved on.

The figure moved with him, leaving one shadow behind as it slipped into the next. The streetlights were still on downtown, but they were farther apart as Fury entered an industrial zone. It was dark enough there that an average human wouldn’t know if someone was following him.

Fury was not an average human.

The cigarette had been dropped but not extinguished, and the stench followed the two men as they wound their way through city streets, past dark factories and warehouses wrapped in chain-link fencing. The man followed the cyborg past full trash barrels and empty train cars. Fury wanted to turn around and scan his pursuer, but that would reveal him prematurely. The man was following him for a reason, and he wanted to know why.

Finally, when they reached the edge of town and there was nothing before them except a lonesome set of railroad tracks stretching off into the moonlight, the figure emerged. There were no more shadows to hide in, nor were there any witnesses. Fury was ready to take care of this quickly. The sun would be up in an hour, and he still had to get back home.

“Give me your wallet.” The man’s voice was monotone as he held out his hand. It looked rough and rugged in the pale light. His face was broad and flat, with arching eyebrows and a gleam in his eye that was apparent despite the gloom.

The cyborg could now turn around and get a good look at his assailant. A quick scan revealed that he was well armed, carrying a pistol in his waistband, another at the top of his boot, and a knife in his jacket pocket. A different pocket held a phone. The man was manipulating the phone, and it looked as though he were pushing buttons.

“I don’t carry one.” Fury needed to play it safe with this character. Everyone the soldier had encountered up until this point had been after something or someone else. No one had ever come for him before. Surely even the most desperate pickpocket would be reluctant to take on a man his size.

“I’m sure you have something that interests me.” The hand in his pocket wasn’t dialing anymore. The man took another step toward the cyborg.

“I doubt it.” Fury amplified his hearing. The man had made a call on the phone, but he wasn’t speaking into it. What was he doing?

“Sure you do. You’re just not being creative enough. You look like you have cybernetic organs inside that body, and I bet there is a weapon built into your hand. You might even have a titanium skeleton. Do you know how much titanium sells for on the black market? You’ve got what I need. Or what my boss needs, and that’s all I care about.” The man grinned. It was an expression that made his face look more threatening than before.

Fury automatically prepared for combat. His opponent would pull out a gun or the knife any minute. The cyborg began to charge his plasma gun but kept his hand down at his side. He already had an unfair advantage.

Noise from behind him suddenly caught his attention. A car roared around the corner, tires squealing and engine roaring. Fury turned to get a visual when an explosion sounded in front of him. The man had shot Fury in the shoulder while he was distracted. The cyborg cursed as he put a hand over his wound and advanced on the gunman, who was now running back toward town.

The car tore around the corner of a building, barreling at him across a patch of grass. Fury could choose to either chase the gunman or confront the driver. Either way, he knew the two of them were working together. The gunman had apparently reported his location with the phone. He had never intended to rob Fury at all. His sole purpose was to isolate Fury and confirm his identity.

The vehicle in front of him had once been a beautiful sports car, but its sides were streaked with bare metal where its driver had scraped against other vehicles or buildings. It was rusting around the edges, but the parts under the hood still worked well enough. The automobile picked up speed as it raced toward Fury.

The cyborg decided to stand his ground and brace for impact. The car might knock him off his feet, but he should be able to withstand the damage. The fiberglass bumper would do nothing to an enhanced skeleton, and even his gunshot wound was no longer hurting. Fury had set out looking for action, and he had found it.

The car screeched to a stop, turning to the left instead of hitting him. The door swung open, and the driver stepped out looking surprisingly casual. Fury did not expect this kind of attitude from someone who had hired an assassin.

To Fury’s surprise, he had seen the man before. He was skinny and sweated profusely, but the gimlet gaze he recognized from Natasha’s porch was unmistakable. The man was Nick’s friend Colin, the person who was overeager to know Fury’s background. The driver looked confident even though he had no weapons. When another person stepped out of the passenger side, Fury understood Colin’s confidence.

The passenger was a cyborg. He was the same size as Fury and looked like he would be a match in a fight. The other cyborg’s plasma gun charged with a squeal as he advanced in front of the car. The man with the gun had vanished.

“Do you remember me?” Colin asked. “Because I sure as hell remember you. The only reason I asked you those questions was to see if you had any memory loss. As soon as Nick described you to me, I recognized who you were. You see, I operated on you. I’m your father, in a sense. I was the surgeon who made you a cyborg.”

“How nice of you,” Fury replied. “What do you want?”

Colin leaned against the door of the car and crossed his arms in front of him, leaving any potential heavy work for his cyborg companion. “Times are tough for former employees of Cyborg Sector. My buddy Nick makes good money at his bar. Most of it comes in as cash. He has a big chunk of it waiting for anyone who can take you down. That won’t be a problem for me. I know everything about how you work.”

“Why does Nick care what happens to me?” Fury asked. He already knew the answer. It was no surprise that Nick would come after him in the mad hope of getting Natasha back. But he needed to keep Colin talking. If Colin had a cyborg on his side, Fury didn’t have a chance to win a fair fight.

The surgeon wiped the sweat from his brow and laughed. “Nick is heading to Natasha’s right now. He thinks he can threaten her with your secret and get her to move back in with him. Between you and me, he doesn’t have a chance to get her back. Nick’s an idiot. I’m not worried about Nick’s plans.”

“You’re not?” Fury’s system had finished analyzing the other cyborg. He had the same enhanced skeleton and plasma gun as Fury, but the other cyborg had modified arms. A titanium alloy coated his bones and contained a massive hydraulic system capable of producing incredible amounts of force.

“No.” Colin appeared to be unaware Fury was doing anything more than listening to him. “I could get a big reward for turning in a rogue cyborg like you. We’ve never had an escapee like this before. I would get my fifteen minutes of fame and a boost to my reputation in the scientific community. There’s also a nice reward for whistleblowers. I’m not opposed to making money in any way.”

Fury nodded. “So you’re going to turn me in regardless of what Natasha does?” He wasn’t a fool and had an idea of how Colin would behave.

“Of course.”

“What you’re telling me is that my only choice is to kill you right now.” Fury could tell Colin had no concealed weapons. The only threat he posed was revealing information. The initial battle would be cyborg against cyborg. If Fury prevailed, he would have the opportunity to deal with the surgeon.

Colin shrugged. “I guess you could, but what would happen after that? If you don’t come with me now, I will make sure Natasha is dead by sunrise. I brought Mack here to protect me, but don’t imagine for a second that he’s the only cyborg devoted to me. I’ve been responsible for the creation of many cyborgs. I always made sure that they felt indebted to me. There’s a cyborg stationed in her backyard right now.”

Fury ground his teeth together. He didn’t know if Colin was telling the truth or not, but he had to assume Colin was honest. If he didn’t take the scientist at his word, he was taking Natasha’s life in his hands. There was no way to determine the truth. “You win. I’ll go with you.”

“Smart decision.”

The backseat of the sports car was tiny, but Fury managed to fold his body into it. Colin was a terrible driver. He swerved around corners too fast then slammed on the brakes. Perhaps he thought it was amusing to see the cyborg in the back brace himself so he wouldn’t slide into the door panel.

Fury knew that Colin thought he had the upper hand. But the cyborg had already worked out a plan. It meant biding his time until the right moment, but it guaranteed Natasha’s safety. He hoped Nick didn’t have different plans for her.

The cyborg did not know his destination, but it was a long drive. The car didn’t head back through town. Instead, the path they took was straight out of the city. They passed farm fields and tree lines, fences and horse pastures. Fury hadn’t bothered studying anything this far out of town, but he continuously watched out the window.

Natasha would be awake by now. He imagined he could feel her worry. The thought of her discomfort infuriated Fury. He couldn’t do anything to stop it. He had to save his energy and see where they were going. If his kidnappers had been human, he could have done things differently.

After several hours, the car swerved off the road and passed through a gate. The driveway they traveled was rutted and full of potholes. The gravel lining had sunk into the dirt long ago. An old house with loose siding and broken windows waited at the end of the driveway. Colin pulled the car into a large door in the side of a barn, and his cyborg closed it behind them. The midday sun streamed through the dirty windows, illuminating the remains of horse stalls that clung to the ancient walls.

As soon as they stopped, Colin ushered Fury out of the car. They headed toward one side of the large room. A panel was visible on the floor, and the scientist opened it.

Fury took a look inside. It was darker than the city on a moonless night. He couldn’t see the floor or any walls, but he knew it was deep. The air rushing up out of it carried the scent of rat urine. “Is this a bomb shelter?” he asked. Any other time, it might have been flattering that someone thought they needed a structure like this to contain him. Now it was worrisome.

“People used to build them all the time to withstand a nuclear attack,” Colin explained. “I’m sure they had no idea that they would also be fantastic for holding in dangerous cyborgs. Are you waiting for an invitation or something? Get in,” he said. “The whole structure is set in concrete, and the door is solid steel. Mack is prepared to guard you until Cyborg Sector gets here. And, of course, I’ve brought a little extra insurance.” He hoisted a thick length of chain from the floor. The scientist could barely lift it with both arms.

Fury reassessed the situation. He had a chance now, and he had to take it. Once he was down in the bomb shelter, he wouldn’t be able to get out without exhausting himself. And he would still have to deal with Colin’s cyborg.

Fury made his move. With one swift motion, he yanked the chain out of the scientist’s arms and whipped it around the other cyborg. The two grappled, Mack pushing against the chain with raw power and Fury relying on his leverage. The two of them were locked together, each determined to be the winner. Just as Mack’s hands were about to close around Fury’s neck and crush his windpipe, Fury summoned every bit of strength in his body and pushed. Mack fell into the pit with a cry of surprise, disappearing into the darkness. He landed with a thump, and Fury slammed the door shut after him.

“Don’t touch me!” Colin screamed as he backed away. “I know how to shut you down! I put that chip into your head, and I can take it out again.”

“You’re a sack of shit,” Fury said, slowly advancing toward the corner where the scientist cowered. “You say you created me like it’s a good thing. I would have been better off dying than rotting away in a laboratory.”

Now that Fury had full access to his memories, Natasha was the only thing in his life that didn’t make him feel like a waste. He had tried to absolve himself of responsibility, but Fury knew he had caused the car accident. If he hadn’t looked away from the road at the wrong time, he might still have been a human police officer. But he wouldn’t have met Natasha.

Colin fished around in his jacket pocket, but Fury already knew that he had no weapons. Instead, the scientist produced a small device the size of a screwdriver. “One zap from this and your biochip is fried. Do you hear me? Do you know what that means?” Colin was becoming hysterical. “That chip controls everything inside you. You’d die on the spot. You wouldn’t be the first cyborg I needed to kill. Not all surgeries are successful, you know. There’s too much room for error. Yours should have been a failure, but I made it work. That’s the kind of doctor I am!” He was sweating profusely. Drops rolled down his face.

Fury had no more time to waste on this man. He had to leave the barn and find Natasha. He was willing to let the doctor go free, but Fury suspected he would be back to harass him and Natasha in the future. Colin held the device out, ready to disable the biochip, but Fury batted it out of Colin’s hand like a child’s toy. The cyborg reached out, grabbed one side of Colin’s head in each of his hands, and snapped his neck.

The cyborg didn’t take the time to stand around and look at the body. He went out the door and started looking for his woman.