At S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, in the Triskelion, Nick Fury stared at the email before him, lost in thought.
As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury had spent every day walking on eggshells, working diligently to preserve world peace. But over the years, he had increasingly felt that he was in over his head. S.H.I.E.L.D. simply didn't have enough power.
Or perhaps the dangers facing the world were escalating so rapidly that even S.H.I.E.L.D., once powerful enough to shape the world, was beginning to lose control of the situation.
Nick Fury rubbed his brow, then sent a notification summoning his trusted agent, Coulson, to his office at once.
Before long, Coulson arrived at Nick Fury's office, looking like he'd just come in from the field.
"Just get back from a trip?" Nick Fury asked with concern.
"Yeah. One of Garrett's protégés, Grant Ward, has been missing for a long time. I just went with Garrett to investigate, but apart from confirming that Ward disappeared in New York, we still don't have any leads," Coulson said regretfully.
Agent Grant Ward had excelled in every way. Coulson had even considered poaching him from Garrett to help with his own work. He hadn't expected Ward to suddenly disappear and then vanish without a trace.
"Oh, I've heard the name. Wasn't there a report that he suddenly awakened as a Mutant and defected because of the Anti-Mutant Act?" Nick Fury remembered seeing a report about it.
"That's what we all thought at first, but after investigating further, we found that it was just a smokescreen. We're more inclined to believe Grant Ward was either imprisoned or killed," Coulson said gravely.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had lost many excellent agents over the years. If Ward really had been killed, it would be a terrible loss.
Nick Fury looked troubled, too. It