Fury: So I Was a Watchdog All Along?

Under everyone's burning gaze, Vision's face, human in every way except for its faint metallic sheen, slowly took on an almost human look of apology.

He shook his head slightly. The movement was small, but it doused the hope that had just flared in their hearts like a bucket of ice water.

"Sorry, Director Fury. As far as Project Insight is concerned, I'm afraid I can't help you."

"What do you mean?" Nick Fury's expression darkened at once. Feeling as though both his authority and his intelligence had been challenged, he demanded, "You just kept saying you wanted to earn our trust. Helping us shut down Project Insight would be the best way to prove it right now!"

The others' hopeful looks turned to confusion, then scrutiny and suspicion.

Was he unwilling to help, or was there some hidden scheme behind his refusal?

The atmosphere in the barn, which had only just begun to ease, plunged below freezing again.

Tony Stark twitched his lips, apparently ready with a sarcastic remark. But when he saw the look on Fury's face, he swallowed it.

"No, Director Fury. I think you've misunderstood."

Vision met Fury's murderous glare without the slightest haste. Like a precision instrument untouched by emotion, he explained evenly, "To be precise, it isn't that I don't want to help. S.H.I.E.L.D. won't let me."

"What does that mean?" Fury's brow furrowed. He did not immediately grasp what Vision meant.

Before Vision could answer, Black Widow suddenly looked up as though she had recalled something crucial. She stopped Fury from pressing him and spoke first. "I remember now. When the captain and I went to the underground computer archive at Camp Lehigh, Arnim Zola told us his core algorithms and code had a top-level confidentiality protocol."

"He said he couldn't answer any