"Yeah, I'll bring dinner... and... ehm... no, nothing. Bye!" Mary hung up as she drove her Nissan while biting her lips. With no more reports driving in the office, Mary took off early. Her mind still occupied with her newer relationship with Nik. A man... well, he wasn't a man strictly speaking. A lust apostle. A being designed to provide sexual pleasure of the highest quality to his loved ones be it men or women and until now, the man hadn't shown bisexual tendencies. "Should I report the incidence back to Director? He'll be able to help Nik since he needs enough knowledge and network connection." Mumbling to herself, Mary threw the thought out of the window since that would be a major breach of trust and now seeing Nik so open about his own secrets... Mary simply couldn't backstab the man her daughter genuinely liked... now, just like her. 

Parking, Mary got out of her car, sighing as she walked into the establishment. "Good day, Mr. Chow," Mary greeted the old asian owner with a weak smile, "The usual. Three servings," Mary placed her order as she gave the visitors a cursory glance with nothing else to do and found certain family eating with a satisfied expression. 'Isn't she... Cindy?' Mary looked at the family of four with a little curiosity before taking her attention away. From what Nik explained, Cindy's senses are far acute than a regular human, and staring for too long might just attract her attention. 

"It will take some time, Ms. Mary," Old Chow replied after preparing the invoice as Mary paid and thought for a moment. "Thanks, I'll be out in my car. Give me a ring when it's done. How's your wife, by the way?" Mary inquired before leaving, making Old Chow chuckle, "All good thanks to you. She would love to meet with you again." Nodding with a smile, Mary took her leave, walking back towards the car. It was then when she accidentally stumbled against a man in a military outfit. "Ah, sorry, Ma'am," the soldier, probably returning home to his family, smiled. And it would have been true if not for the fact that Mary just felt the stranger slipping something into the side pocket of her top.

"It's alright," Mary smiled before getting into her car and locking the doors. Taking out the folded piece of paper from her pocket, Mary found the words— Eve Night Pub— written on them. A popular establishment amongst young and reckless with a need for off-the-grid pills and knowing the source of the information, she realized that this place has just become one of the many source points for her son's desire to grow and rise in the world. Letting out a deep sigh, Mary slumped her face against the steering wheel of the car, a groan leaking from her mouth, "Junior... don't get too involved with these kinds of stuff." While a little portion of her mind wished to storm into the place and pull him out, the situation would grow worse. As in fatally. She had seen a lot of stuff going south in such situations and with Junior, Mary didn't want any chances and now knowing that Junior's friend is actually a sensible adult with a hint of devilishness and not some hung junkie, Mary found just the tiny amount of comfort needed to not... storm into the Eve Night Pub.

At this point, her cell rang, revealing the caller to be Mr. Chow. Taking a deep breath, she picked herself up and walked out of the car to pick the dinner. 

---

"For Christ's sake!" Luke shouted at White Tiger, "Just scratch its face. This dude's a monster! He killed people! Cops, good men!" Luke pointed at the caged yellow humongous troll with its limbs chained down firmly and unmoved despite the monster's countless struggles. Its mouth covered with a steel-plated choker, a wonder why the Stark Industries even had this kind of item lying in a so-called garage in the first place. Looking into Luke's eyes with her own covered by a thin layer of yellow filter attached to her costume, White Tiger snarled in response, clearly, not the best team that their organization could bring up. "I am not going to torture anything! If you've got the balls, big guy, go ahead, smash its skull in and uncover the mouth! Maybe, that way, you'll get some answers."

"I am not smashing anybody's skull in, especially not a chained... monster's." Luke clicked his tongue as White Tiger crossed her arms, letting her modest and lovely breasts, outlined by one of the toughest fiver produced by S.H.I.E.L.D, push up, attracting Luke's attention for a moment. "Well," she replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Then stop pushing the burden on your partner. Or next time, I'll scratch your face." She hissed, making Luke glare at the woman before mumbling under his breath, "Not before I punch you in the guts."

"I heard that!"

"Yeah, well, scratch me!" Luke spat, angrily glaring at the monster, "What do we even know about this guy? For all we know, he was experimented on by some sick freak."

"Like your situation?" White Tiger inquire, instantly snapping Luke.

{A/N: For Luke Cage, I am going with the Ultimate Spiderman (cartoon) origins. In this one, he wasn't tested in the prison but given a strength serum from his parents, who are shield operatives and their lead researcher for the supersoldier serum.}

"My parents weren't a sick freak! They gave me that serum so that I could survive!" He shouted as White Tiger raised her hands in surrender, "Didn't say anything about your parents but the experiment itself." She muttered before gazing at the monster, "Maybe we should look into police records? Find out who's gone missing in the last couple of days and then crosscheck?" She proposed only for Luke to shrug, "If you have the time to actually find all those unfortunate people. I mean, with a new slave trader in the city, the search area had just grown greater."

"What do you mean— A new slave trader?"

"Didn't you hear?" Luke furrowed his brows, "The yakuzas have been destroyed and by the looks of it, a single man took care of it. But the Mafia took up the trade instantly."

"So you think, the Mafia might be the reason for..." White Tiger trailed her words as Luke sighed, "Look, I am just chatting. I don't know if the Mafia has the tech to enhance a single person but if they did, we wouldn't just be confronting this... poor guy," Luke pointed at the Troll, whose eyes couldn't even make out Luke completely, "but if there is someone out there taking matters into their own hands—"

"Like we haven't?" White Tiger's mask covered her smirk as she waved her hand, "Look, I joined the S.H.I.E.L.D with the intention of hunting down the gangs like them. Till now, I haven't been appointed such missions but I am glad that someone else took the matter in his hands. That way, many innocents just avoided pain and suffering."

"Oh, come on." Luke rolled his eyes, "These gangs check each other. What if this guy continues to hunt like this?"

"Then this person has my blessing. I say—Hunt until the prey is too afraid to even sneak his head out. If this person is not as just as I thought, then I'll hunt the guy down myself." She muttered when the door to the storage opened, revealing an annoyed Nick Fury. "Director?" White Tiger questioned as the superhero duo turned back in surprise while the man in question didn't seem to have the time for explaining his existence and looked beside him, revealing a grey-haired man in his forties, "Mr. Kal, this is the failed experiment probably researched by the fugitive— Norman Osborn. Is there a need for greater proof?"

"Sorry, kids," instead of replying to Nick, the man surnamed Kal glanced at Luke and White Tiger, "You guys need to give us some privacy." He stated while Nick nodded at them, inciting a well-received groan from both of them as they left the storage room before the thick doors closed themselves and Kal took out a small device from his pocket. Pressing the only button on the thumb-sized black object, Kal took a deep breath, "Look, Nick. The CIA won't move against Osborn and his assets until it is proved in the hidden court and a single monster won't cut it. You know the rules, you were one of us before you got promoted, remember?" Kal patted Nick's shoulder.

"We can't take it easy, Mark," Nick looked at his old friend with the single remaining eye of his, "Norman's started to actually create monstrosities and it is in these times that we need to..."

"What? Cross the lines?" Mark chuckled, "We don't do that here, Director. I have my own bosses, which, surprise surprise, are your bosses, too. And these lines were set by them." 

Meanwhile, as the two men conversed, a soft echo blew in Tony Stark's place as he looked through the hidden surveillance system, "Sir, it seems that an electronic blocker of some sorts is activated around the two," Jarvis reported while Tony brought up the holograph of the signals present in the room, muttering with a sour expression since he simply wasn't able to learn about anything, "You don't say."

---

"Hey! You're back!" Nik exclaimed as his eyes lit up seeing the sexy woman enter the apartment with her hands holding the bag containing dinner. Sniffing, Nik muttered, "Chinese, eh?" Hearing him, Mary chuckled and placed her purse and food on the table before walking up to Nik towards the couch and pecked his lips, "You've got a nose more sensitive than Pooch!" she exclaimed while still a little regretful as to how they lost their pet dog. Looking at Anna who slept with her head on Nik's lap, Mary smiled, "Wake up, sweetheart. Dinner's prepared," she then made her way towards the kitchen to prepare the dishes needed for the soup.

After the dinner, Anna grunted and struggled her way towards the bedroom, "I'm gonna call it early. The practice was brutal~!" Something she didn't entirely mind since she survived, testimony to her skills. Meanwhile, Nik looked at Mary, who seemed to be on edge and yawned, "What about you, Mary? Sleep or..." Nik trailed with a knowing grin. Smiling at the invitation, Mary took a moment before whispering, "Listen, Nik. I think we need to talk. I, um... I'm not the kind of person you think I am. You know, I am not a reporter... entirely... technically."

Nik looked at Mary impassively, "And?"

"And..." Mary took a deep breath, "And I still can't tell you who I was or what I did back then but..."

"You want me to trust you, right?" Nik inquired with an amused grin, shaking Mary a little. "Nik, this isn't a joking matter. I wasn't a person that should be called a mother back then."

"You were a spy, I get that," Nik chuckled, making Mary's eyes snap open as her lips quivered. "Nik, did you read my mind?" She inquired as the words pulled out a scoff from Nik.

"Read minds? Sadly, I haven't done such an act in a long, long, time. And I don't forcefully invade the privacy of the people, you know... I care about," Nik smiled, "It was from the Exotic Escort. You had abilities such as marksmanship, espionage, lethal blow... stuff like that." His words not too musical to Mary's ears as Nik leaned forward, looking straight into Mary's eyes, "Listen, Mary. Carefully, too. I may not be a better person myself to others so... even if you have some things to share, take your time. I won't definitely mind and even if Anna and... Brandon does... I am sure they'll come around."

"And you seem to take this all too well," Mary muttered, clearly feeling complicated by the turn of events.

"I mean, usually, those who have hidden past are somehow related to 'dark' stuff of the society... in every era, I mean. I would know that," Nik pointed out, "But that doesn't mean people shouldn't get a second chance. I did, you did, too. Second chances are great stuff, so don't mind it." Saying this, Nik stood up and made his way across the table before leaning down and passionately kissing Mary, "Now, you aren't 'that' tired, right?" He inquired in hushed whispers as it brought a short smirk to her face. "What if I say I want to rest on your lap, too?"

"I say, hop on, darling," Nik snickered, "You'll rest and I'll still find some ways to entertain myself. You know, bring my other allowed powers to good use."

"Whooo!" Mary yelped the moment Nik swooped her up in his arms and carried her to the spacious sofa. Since Anna clearly looked tired, there was no need to excite her despite her exhaustion, which left Nik with enough chance to explore Mary's backdoor even if she wasn't so sure about the idea herself. With her tight pencil skirt pushed up and her slightly formal top already thrown on top of the television, both continued to exchange kisses with their hands roaming on each other's bodies.