Rainwater streamed through a tear in the sheet-metal roof and struck the undercarriage of the overturned Sabo bus nearby, raising a faint earthy smell.
Coulson had barely forced out his hollow greeting when he met Chen Xiao's faintly amused gaze. His throat seemed to clog with sandpaper, trapping the rest of his words before he could speak them.
He braced a hand against the cold rubber of a wheel, fingers digging into the slick steel rim. Years of navigating lies had given him the reflex to straighten his aching back and hold the scene together with a diplomat's well-practiced false smile.
"Mr. Chen, I understand how hard this is to believe."
Coulson cleared his throat. His Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to keep his gaze steady. "In fact, this is a top-secret internal test codenamed 'Dead Man's Mask.' To identify possible infiltration by external supernatural forces, we had to create a tactical blind spot at the highest priority level. The report you saw in the Helicarrier's system claiming my vital signs had flatlined was part of a deep-layer firewall protocol designed to mislead potential enemies. After all—"
"Keep going. Make up some more."
Chen Xiao stood with both hands in the pockets of his loose hoodie, watching Coulson's performance through half-lidded eyes. "Do I look like I'm buying it?"
Coulson fell silent. The rest of his flimsy explanation lodged in his throat. His tongue tasted bitter, and he could not force out another syllable.
Under Chen Xiao's mocking gaze, which seemed to see straight through his soul, the veteran agent's toughest mask crumbled bit by bit into dust.
"That's enough. People really will say anything when they're making it up on the spot. Stop trying so hard to bullshit me."
Chen Xiao's gaze swept over Coulson's rain-soaked shirt and