Marvelous Mutations

Sharon continued gently cleaning and dressing the injuries on Nick Fury's face and arms. The most critical wounds had already been tended to, but she remained focused and meticulous, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Fury, however, looked less concerned with the pain than with the heavy thoughts weighing on his mind.

After a moment of tense silence, he exhaled slowly, as though he'd finally made a difficult decision. Reaching into the inner pocket of his tattered coat, he pulled out a small, black USB flash drive.

Without a word, he held it out to Luke.

"This…" he said, his voice low and measured, "is what I had Romanoff download before everything fell apart. I've tried everything I could to decrypt it, but… nothing worked. Even the computers at S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't get past the encryption."

He paused, a touch of doubt clouding his eyes.

"I was going to take it to Tony Stark," he admitted. "But… I figured maybe you could give it a shot first."

Luke accepted the flash drive with a casual flick of his wrist, inspecting it under the light. The device was immediately familiar to him. It had appeared several times in the Marvel movies, he already knew exactly what it contained.

Cracking the encryption wasn't necessary.

But for Fury's sake, and maybe a little for show, he decided to play along.

"No need to call Stark," Luke said with an easy smile. "He might be good. But I'm better."

With that, he walked toward the door leading into the garage and knocked twice.

"Bumblebee, wake up. I've got a job for you."

The garage door slid open just enough to let a sliver of light through. Luke tossed the flash drive inside without hesitation and stood by the door, arms crossed, waiting.

Fury frowned from his seat, confused.

'Is he really giving it to the car to decrypt?' he wondered. 'Even if that robot can hack, there's no way it'll be instant. Why is Luke just standing there like it's going to be ready in seconds?'

Just as he was about to speak, a bright yellow robotic arm reached out through the cracked door and handed the flash drive back to Luke.

"All done, boss!" Bumblebee's cheerful voice rang out from the garage.

Luke caught the drive midair and turned to Fury with a small smirk.

"Here. Cracked and clean."

Fury blinked, visibly stunned.

"…Already?"

It hadn't even been ten seconds.

Even if it were Tony Stark himself, Fury figured that much time would only cover booting up a laptop.

"You sure it's not just a copy?" he asked suspiciously, taking the USB with a mix of awe and disbelief.

"You're welcome to check," Luke replied, already heading back to his seat.

Fury stood up, wincing slightly, and turned toward the counter. "Can I use your computer?"

"Woah, slow down," Luke interjected quickly. "Sharon! Bring your laptop down, would you?"

Fury raised an eyebrow, surprised by Luke's reaction.

"I don't let just anyone touch that computer," Luke muttered, eyeing the one behind the counter. "Bad things could happen."

Very bad things.

That computer, his level 5 mutated computer, was far too powerful and unpredictable to be handled by anyone else. Not even Sharon or Wanda had ever laid a hand on it.

If someone accidentally triggered the summoning function and something like a dragon appeared in the store… the whole building might be turned into rubble.

Meanwhile, while waiting for the laptop, Fury looked at Luke, his expression more serious now.

"There's something else I need to tell you."

Luke, leaning lazily against the counter, nodded for him to continue.

Fury hesitated before speaking. "I'm almost certain they'll come for me tonight. I don't know who, or how many, but… someone's going to try to finish the job."

His voice was steady, but the weight behind it was real. Guilt tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"I know I'm bringing danger into your home," he added. "And I'll owe you for it. Big time."

Luke waved his hand dismissively.

"Relax," he said. "Even if Thanos showed up, you'd be safe here."

"Thanos?" Fury frowned. "Who's that?"

Could it be some hidden individual with superpowers he wasn't aware of? An alien maybe?

Luke paused for a beat.

"Eh… don't mind the details. Just a name."

The name had clearly gone over Fury's head.

But it wasn't important. Hydra wasn't Thanos. The only mildly dangerous card they had left was the Winter Soldier. And Luke had already seen that guy get knocked out cold by his own arm.

They were outmatched.

Besides, he had his ace.

"Doggo!" Luke suddenly shouted up the stairs. "Get down here!"

A groggy thud sounded from above, followed by the heavy, floppy thumps of a very lazy husky rolling his way down the stairs.

Doggo landed at the bottom with an ungraceful flop, yawned wide, then blinked up at Luke with sleepy eyes.

Luke reached down and casually grabbed him by the back legs, dragging him toward the front of the store like a sack of potatoes.

One of the small joys of his Extremis upgrade was being able to push Doggo around. Back before the serum, Doggo used to be the one dragging him around during walks.

"Front and center, buddy," Luke said. "Anyone shady comes near, feel free to eat 'em."

Doggo's eyes lit up.

He scrambled toward the doggy door, ears perked, tail wagging wildly, and squeezed outside with sudden enthusiasm.

Fury watched all this, eyes narrowing with reluctant amusement.

Yeah… he was safe here.

He had forgotten that no one around Luke was remotely normal.

Between the robot in the garage and the monstrous dog guarding the door, these assassins wouldn't stand a chance.

…