"What?"
Jane took the business card from Coulson, did not even look at it, and threw it straight to the ground.
Her eyes were red. "Those companies can't buy replacements for these. I built all my equipment piece by piece!"
"Do you have any idea how many all-nighters I pulled for this data? How much work I put into it? And now you think you can just say a few light words and take all my work away?"
"Do you even know what you're doing, you bunch of robbers?"
Meeting Jane's hysterical stare, Coulson gently raised a hand to stop her. "I'm very sorry, Miss Foster, but we're the good guys. I hope you can understand."
"Does that make me some kind of heinous criminal?"
Watching helplessly as the lab was emptied bit by bit, as the equipment she usually treasured was casually tossed into the trucks, Jane gritted her teeth and suddenly spread her arms in front of one of the vehicles. "No. You are absolutely not leaving today!"
"Ah."
Seeing that there was no communicating with her anymore, Coulson sighed helplessly. He waved a hand, and several people immediately approached from the side and dragged her away.
"No—"
Just as Jane, Darcy, and Selvig were struggling with all their might, a clear female voice suddenly drifted over from the distance. "Fenris, if Johnny never comes back, are we really going to keep waiting for him here?"
"We looked around the whole way here. This town is so small, and there's nothing much to see."
"No, we're not waiting for him. Let him catch up on his own."
…
"It's him?"
Their voices were not particularly prominent amid the chaos and noise, but Jane, who had been blocked by several agents, noticed them at once.
She focused and looked over. A man and a woman were walking slowly along the main road from a distance. The commotion here seemed to have drawn their attention, and both of them looked this way.
"It's the wizard from last night!" Darcy had been thrown to the ground by several people. After scrambling up in a rather disheveled state, she recognized him immediately. "Didn't Thor go looking for him?"
"I don't know…"
Jane finally stopped struggling. After several agents let her go, she narrowed her eyes and looked in that direction.
"Well, if it isn't newly promoted Senior Agent Coulson."
Walking over with Wanda in tow, Fenris swept his gaze around the area, then blinked at Coulson with great interest. "It's been a while. Since when did you start robbing scientists?"
"Fenris?"
The familiar voice reached his ears. Looking at Fenris, whom he had not seen in a long time, the smile on Coulson's face instantly grew especially bright.
He waved happily at Fenris. "Long time no see, Fenris. I didn't expect to run into you here."
"Coulson, what is all this…"
The open ground in front of the lab had already descended into complete disorder. Countless pieces of equipment, documents, and notebooks were scattered across the ground. Fenris glanced at Jane and the others, who were being firmly held back by several agents not far away, and understood.
"These scientists came into contact with certain materials involving…"
Coulson leaned close to Fenris and carefully pointed up at the sky. "I've read some of the information about those gods too. This data can't be allowed to leak. Forced containment was the only option."
As he spoke, Coulson spread his hands. "Without the director's approval, there's nothing I can do. I can only follow orders."
In the distance.
Seeing the previously imposing Coulson so naturally sidle up beside Fenris, while the two of them talked as if no one else were around, Darcy and Jane turned to look at each other.
"Isn't he a wizard?"
Darcy raised her hands and made a few strange gestures. "How does a wizard know people like these agents?"
Jane frowned, completely confused. "I don't know…"
"Jane, that guy seems pretty close to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' boss." Darcy suddenly poked Jane. "He even said hello to us yesterday. Do you think we can ask him for help…"
"That doesn't seem right."
After all, they had only met once. There was no telling whether the other party even remembered them.
But looking at the precious instruments scattered carelessly all over the ground, Jane, who had always been thin-skinned, suddenly gritted her teeth and hesitantly took half a step forward.
"Wait! Jane, what are you doing?"
Professor Selvig abruptly stepped forward and stopped her. He lowered his voice through clenched teeth. "He's a wizard!"
"So what if he's a wizard?"
"In stories, making deals with wizards always comes at a price!"
"But…"
Jane looked unwillingly at the mess all over the ground. "This is all my work. The data I worked so hard to obtain…"
"Jane, listen to me. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not made up of good people."
Selvig pulled Jane aside. "I know an expert in the field of gamma radiation. After he had contact with S.H.I.E.L.D., he mysteriously vanished for a time, and he only got back in touch with me a few days ago."
"Don't panic. I'll contact him. Maybe he can help us, and then we won't have to make a deal with this mysterious wizard."
"All right!"
Hearing this, Jane nodded repeatedly, as if she had seized the last straw.
Selvig fumbled with his phone and hurriedly sent out a string of messages.
Time passed second by second. Just as the group was growing frantic with anxiety, the phone screen suddenly lit up.
"There's a reply!"
Selvig hastily opened his phone, and Jane immediately leaned in as well.
"My dear friend Erik Selvig, I already know about the problem you're facing. Unfortunately, since I'm thousands of miles away in New York State, there's nothing I can do to help you."
At this point, Jane's last trace of hope was shattered, and her face instantly turned ashen.
"However…"
Selvig's tone shifted, and he continued reading. "I recently joined a very dynamic group of super-scientists, and I've also met an extremely influential powerhouse. He has great respect for top scholars with knowledge like yours."
"This is his contact information. If he's willing to help you, your problem may be solved with ease."
"Best of luck. Your friend, Bruce Banner."
Seeing this, Jane's eyes immediately lit up. "That's great!"
As an astrophysicist, Jane was naturally familiar with Bruce Banner's name. If even he held this person in such high regard, how could that person be simple?
Even if worse came to worst, leaving her a copy of the data as a backup so all her previous work would not be wasted should not be too much to ask, right?
With that thought, Jane immediately fumbled out her own phone and shakily dialed the number Bruce had given them.
Not far away, Coulson heard every word of their loud plotting and shook his head helplessly.
These scientists really were adorably naive. Did they really think S.H.I.E.L.D. was some random place where just anyone could put in a word?
"Naive."
Coulson waved at the people around him and urged, "Move faster. Once we're done loading, we wrap this up!"
(End of Chapter)
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