Alexander Pierce pushed open the door to Nick Fury's office and walked in with a smile.
"Oh, you're here."
Nick Fury put down the documents in his hand, took a bottle of red wine and two glasses from the nearby liquor cabinet, and poured Alexander Pierce a glass.
"Try this. I just had it brought over from France."
"Is this what you're spending S.H.I.E.L.D.'s budget on?" Pierce gave Fury a mock glare, then pulled out a chair and sat across from him. He raised the glass and took a sip. "Not bad. Give me a couple of bottles to take home later."
Setting down his glass, Pierce pointed at the documents on the desk with feigned casualness. "Is S.H.I.E.L.D. short-staffed lately? Even the director has to handle paperwork himself?"
"Ha! This?" Nick Fury shook his head with a chuckle and tossed the documents to Pierce. "It's an investigation report I just got from the FBI. I thought it looked interesting, so I was reading it to kill some time."
"Am I allowed to read it?"
Pierce caught the documents but didn't immediately open them.
"Of course. It's nothing important."
Nick Fury shrugged and gestured for Pierce to help himself.
"Kraft Lee?" Pierce tapped his forehead with an index finger as he searched his memory. "The Mechanical Pet kid?"
"Hmph. So those people on the World Security Council had their eyes on him too."
From what Pierce remembered about Kraft, Nick Fury could deduce why he'd heard of him.
Pierce didn't deny it. "You know how it is, Nick. If something can cut military spending, those people are bound to be interested."
As he spoke, he continued leafing through the documents.
"Let's see what this kid made this time to get the FBI's attention."
Nick Fury didn't interrupt him again. He