In the once auxiliary hospital of the SSR, Merlin and Fury were standing outside the room looking through the glass at the person who was receiving treatment on the bed.
It was agent Jasper Sitwell.
The level 1 agent who had been meritoriously promoted for helping Constantine with the Irregulars List in New York last year. But now, this young man was lying in the emergency room and had not awakened for a week now.
Merlin had worked with Sitwell for a short time, he had a good impression of this young Indian man.
"Sitwell isn't really a good agent."
Fury crosses his arms and tells Merlin:
"The young man lacks confidence and courage, he had told me before that if possible, he would rather become an internal agent. He wasn't even willing to have a gun, he hopes to do what he can from an office. I looked into him, he's an orphan who almost lost his life in a gang fight when he was young."
"Yet he's a qualified supporter, I gave the mission to Constantine, and that guy only provided some primary intel, but the list Sitwell gave me was very comprehensive, it included nearly all the information on the irregulars, every single one of them was labeled and verifiable. The list could definitely become the standard template of all files in the organization."
Fury shakes his head and says in a pity:
"If the young man doesn't wake up, our organization will lose an excellent supporter. Young men like him and you are the future of our organization."
"Relax, he'll wake up."
Merlin holds a cup of coffee in his hand and takes a sip of it. Through his second sight, he could see the condition of the young man in front of him. He tells Fury:
"Sitwell's weak soul is recovering, he's still unconscious because he's too physically exhausted. In a few more days, he'll awaken, then after a month of rehabilitation, he'll be able to be discharged from the hospital."
"Mmm, hope so."
Fury reaches out and puts on his sunglasses, then he and Merlin walk out of the hospital. The two sit in the car and Fury drives toward Hell's Kitchen.
"This is what you want."
Merlin places the coffee on the bridge, takes a piece of paper out from his pocket, and hands it to Fury.
The latter drives with one hand and takes the paper with the other, he scans it simply, nods, then places it into his pocket. On it were the full instructions and materials needed to make holy silver bullets, which the two made a deal on.
"Come work in the headquarters, Merlin."
Fury drives the car into a corner, he honks to get the car in front of him moving while telling Merlin:
"Keller's been forced to a corner by Pierce, he's got enough on his plate and he won't have time to deal with us. I can arrange you that office I promised you, I need people I can trust to help me with some things."
"Office?"
Merlin makes a bored expression with his lips, he tells Fury:
"Forget it, I sat a full year in the office at Garrett's, that kind of work truly isn't for me. I'll keep being a field agent, it's quite good being an action expert who can move freely."
"Fine then."
Fury nods and continues:
"I may have to go on frequent trips lately, Keller is no longer a threat, so I'll have to start recruiting new recruits. Agent Weaver has everything prepared, the Academy that'll belong to us will be established, and I'll have to go look for talented young people like you and Sitwell to establish the base of the future of our organization."
"You wanna come with me?"
"Mmm, sounds interesting."
Merlin shrugs and says with a face of pity:
"But not now, I have to hurry up and learn magic. I can only possess those books for 3 years, and now, a year and a half has passed."
"Mmm...those magic, I mean, can they be taught to others?"
Fury squints his eyes and asks lightly:
"I mean if I can find some with magic talent, can you..."
"Theoretically I can."
Merlin leans on the passenger's seat, rubs his forehead, and says:
"But we shouldn't, I heard that the Ministry of Magic here in America acts more roughly, and they're hidden somewhere in this vast land, secretly monitoring all magic activities; we'll be in big trouble if they discover us teaching magic in secret."
"Fury, you've no idea how much wizards value their heritage, and most of them don't have good feelings for normal people. They call normal people 'Muggles', mmm, a dishonorable term, you get what I mean?"
"Mmm, I get it. Sounds like a mutation from jus sanguinis.
Fury gives up this alluring idea.
As an agent supervisor and a future leader, he wanted his organization to be stronger, the force shown from Merlin's magic that day was truly alluring.
But he was still rational, his organization was currently still in a trough, it's best to not incur the wrath of a seemingly large magic organization.
"But there is a way to cut corners."
Merlin looks around and lowers his voice:
"In the wizarding world, there's a type of people called 'Squibs', meaning those with magic talent yet lack the ability to release them. They're between wizards and ordinary people, they know a lot about supernatural events, some squibs have extraordinary knowledge. Most importantly, the existence of squibs are very common, and the wizards' management of them are much looser."
"So what you mean is we can recruit some?"
Fury's eyes brighten up, he strokes his chin and contemplates:
"Are they easy to find?"
"At least they're easier to find than wizards."
Merlin says:
"I'll ask around some friends about where the squibs in America gather. Don't recruit too many, Fury, having one or two knowledgeable ones are enough, any more and it'll draw attention."
"I understand, what we need are just consultants after all."
Fury pats on Merlin's shoulder and says:
"We have you to deal with those things. You're the ace agent under my wing specialized in dealing with supernatural events."
"Sounds weird when you put it like that."
Merlin glances at Fury, he looks at the someone worn-out flight jacket Fury was wearing and chuckles:
"How are the clothes?"
"Mmm, they're not bad."
Fury says in satisfaction:
"Never need to wash it, never gets dirty, and self regenerates damage, aside from not being bulletproof and somewhat old fashioned, everything's great."
"There are the latest suits and uniforms sold there."
Merlin says:
"I just didn't know what styles you like, so I never bought any."
"Then the next time you drop by, get me a coat."
Fury says:
"A black one, a cool one! Mmm, along with a black sweater and pants, combat boots too if there are any."
"Alright, no problem."
Merlin nods:
"I'll get it for you before your next birthday."
"Click"
As Merlin spoke, Fury stops his car by the road, Fury lowers the car window and points at a house at the side of the road, he tells Merlin:
"Your house was burned down, so I rented a new one for you, like usual, it'll act as your safehouse. I won't arrange field missions for you for the time being, so use your time to learn magic..."
"The stronger you are, the more confident our organization will be when facing those weird things."
Merlin opens the car door and looks at the white house in front of him, he lets out a breath, turns around, and tells FUry:
"Thanks, the house looks nice."
"Of course it does."
Fury crosses his arms, leans against his new car, and says:
"The rent for this house is expensive, so I paid the first month's rental for you, pay for later rentals yourself. It comes with a courtyard and garage, along with full furniture; this place is rather quiet and remote, so not many will come to disturb you."
"Let's go in and take a look."
Merlin takes the house keys from Fury and the two walk into the house, it was a standard American cottage, it had two floors and it was made of wood, the furniture was a bit worn-out but it wasn't a big deal.
But Merlin discovered something odd in the courtyard behind the house.
"Is this a bonus?"
Merlin points at the rusty car that was missing its front wheels parked in the courtyard and tells Fury:
"Or is this a 'collector's item' left by the last tenant?"
"Err, I'm not so sure myself."
Fury looks at the broken car in confusion and says:
"I don't remember this being here the last time I was here. Whatever, I'll get a tow truck to tow it away."
"Wait."
Merlin walks over to the old car, he looks at the car as if he saw the car he fixed himself back on Coulsons' farm. Lola, the car he left to Phil, at first, was in the same condition as this one, old, rusty, unwanted.
Merlin reaches out and strokes on the car's hood, he looks back at Fury and says:
"Keep it here, this is a Dodge Challenger, a classic. If I get the chance, I'll refurbish it and turn it into my own."
"Looks like you know your cars."
Fury snorts, he looks at the time on his watch and tells Merlin:
"Do what you like, I'll be off, I discovered some promising young men and I have to go see them. If things go well, you'll be seeing some fresh recruits in a few months."
"I won't see you off then."
Merlin opens the car's hood and begins inspecting the insides.
Behind him, Fury turns and leaves, Kohler could no longer cause him trouble, which means that Fury could finally start doing some work. He sits back in his car, opens the drawer in the passenger's seat, and takes out a file, he flips over it, starts the car, and drives towards the airport.
"First stop...Wisconsin."
"Wait, wasn't Merlin born there?"
"Come, cheers!"
Later that night, in Merlin's new home, young Erik, May, and Ben, along with Merlin himself, stood around the table to celebrate Merlin moving into a new house.
The food on the table was takeaway, and the house wasn't tidied up, yet their family gathering here gave it a warm atmosphere.
Merlin and Ben were drinking away with beer, May was helping young Erik slice up his pizza, the television was playing the classic <Back To The Future>, and the lights in the house were slightly dim; under the night, Merlin could enjoy some hard-earned relief and reunion.
He drinks his beer and suddenly remembers something he had long forgotten.
He stands up and takes out two bags from his room, and hands them to the working May, he says:
"I bought this dress during my trip to Europe, yet I never got the chance to come back, it was meant for you on the Christmas of 1992, but it got dragged on for over a year, thankfully it isn't too late now."
"Oh? You brought me a gift?"
May takes the bag from Merlin's hand, she glances at it, and finds a delicate box inside it. She takes out the box and opens it, revealing a purple dress.
Under the lights, the dress made of unknown materials was reflecting a rainbow-like light, looking like a true work of art.
Ben and young Erik let out an exclamation of surprise, while May gently stroked on the purple dress with her hand; the touch was silky and smooth, unlike the materials she had seen before.
"This must be expensive."
May lifts her head and looks at her brother, she says:
"You should save the money instead of spending it like this."
"It's not that expensive, my dear sister."
Merlin leans against the couch and explains:
"I bought this dress from an old shop in London, it's not as expensive as you think, plus, I've never given you a gift ever since our reunion."
"Alright then."
It wasn't good to keep refusing, so May kept the dress; then, young Erik raises his head and complains to Merlin:
"Do I not get a gift?"
"Yeah you do, it's in my case, go find it yourself."
Merlin strokes on Erik's head, the latter lets out an excited cheer and rushes into Merlin's room, but moments later, a dejected cry resounds from the room. Erik storms out of the room wearing a worn-out cape and says to Merlin:
"Old clothes! Hell! Are you dismissing me with this thing?"
"But don't you think that it's cool?'
Merlin says:
"You look like Zoro when you wear it! Don't you love Zoro?"
"Makes sense."
14-year-old Erik puts on the hood and makes several excited rogue gestures, the silly young man makes the other three laugh.
The laughing echoes in the darkness, and outside the window, the first snow of Spring 1994 drops, representing the end of this year.
And the new hope of the upcoming year.
