"Who?"

"That's who you refer to as God. Not those so-called gods roaming around the universe that just have a prolonged lifespan, but the one with the big G. The one in charge of all the multiverse. So yeah, if the big guy hasn't stopped my coming into this world, then it must be part of Their Plan."

He can see some uncertainty in Fury's eyes, probably because he didn't lie at all. If he somehow appeared here, the One Above All must have known and let him go into this universe. Why? He doesn't know, and it terrifies him.

"What can you tell us about this One Above All and these other gods?"

"Yeah, no. That's above your paygrade, man. Even above my paygrade. I only know about them because I read about this universe before I came in. I mostly deal with Souls." This is true. He also has been dealing with a couple of souls that are too into their grief to pass onto the Afterlife. No one can see them like they can see him, though.

Fury's gaze sharpens. "Do I need to remind you—you're the one in need of our help?"

"I mean, yeah. You're my first choice only because the second is way more dangerous, even if nicer, and I don't think they would be interested as they deal more with outside threats than anything else."

At Fury's narrow eyes and the alarm that he can feel in the other two, he adds before they can ask about the Ancient One, "I was hoping for you to help me in exchange for some information that I have about your organization that you might like to know."

Luckily, Fury overlooks his previous comment. Instead, choosing to raise an incredulous eyebrow at him. "You've got information about SHIELD that I don't know of?"

"Well, yeah. That's why I told you to turn off your spy devices."

"That implies we have someone is leaking information about us." Fury hums as taps the surface of his desk in thought. "If your information is as important as you make it seem, then we can provide you the location of every Hollow we encounter."

"Sweet," he says, almost fist-bumping in happiness.

"But you've got to tell us about your second option, too."

"Oh, don't worry about them. They are more focused on outside threats."

"We focus on outside threats."

He snorts. "I don't mean aliens. I mean real outside threats, as in outside this dimension. They focus more on interdimensional beings that look to devour the earth or enslave it, not silly alien invasions. So yeah, above your paygrade. You don't need to worry your pretty head about it."

He thinks his words did the contrary to helping.

Good.

He needs to distract them, after all. Not giving them the time to think about all he's said.

"So anyway, the information I've got is about another organization that's buried itself deep into SHIELD."

"Name?"

"HYDRA," he says after a second of suspense, his voice serious. "If I'm not mistaken, they've been inside SHIELD since your people recruited the scientist Arnim Zola."

That gets Fury serious. "And how did you get this information?"

"Don't worry, I'm not from HYDRA. I'm a soul reaper, and the dead tell no lies," He says with a smile. "Besides, I told you because the Earth needs SHIELD, if you had discovered on your own, it would have been too late. HYDRA is not only in SHIELD but also in prominent positions inside the government around the world, too."

Fury nods slowly, his gaze scrutinizing him. "I would need to give you a device to contact you. Or you could tell us your number."

Yeah, and that way you could track him. Luckily, he gained Rick's untraceable phone.

Making the phone appear in his hand, he gives it to Fury. "Here."

He receives it, probably thinking he's won or something.

Oh well, it would be a surprise to him.

.

.

After giving the phone back to the so-called soul reaper, Fury sees him fiddle with it before making it disappear in the same way he made it appear.

"Well, director, it's been a pleasure talking with you," he says, sounding honest, which he finds weird. The soul reaper smiles once again, his slightly glowing yellow eyes seem to light up with each smile he gives.

Or he is an amazing actor, which he doesn't believe, or he's honestly a cheerful man. It seems to be the latter case, which makes him shudder.

He then turns to Hill and gives her a bow, before doing the same with Coulson.

"I hope this goodwill between us can last," are his last words before a mouth appears behind him, the shadow coming out of the wall and stretching towards the waving soul reaper until it eats him up.

Then, as if they have turned the lights on, all shadows disappear.

Fury looks straight ahead, pondering on what he just heard. He taps his finger on the device next to him and turns off the recording devices.

"Do you think it was true what he said, Director?"

Fury doesn't blame Phil's doubt, as he was mostly watching his back from his position near the door. He wasn't able to look at his face like he or Hill could.

"He wasn't lying," says Hill. After thinking carefully, she adds, "Also, we didn't get any information he wasn't ready to share."

Fury nods. "He led the conversation. Every time I thought of asking something, he kept surprising us with even more information. To not let ourselves reflect on his words."

Coulson hums. "He was honest with us, but he manipulated us still with the truth."

"He knew he wasn't as skilled as us in diplomacy, so he chose another way."

Smirking, Fury turns back on the recording devices. "What an interesting guy."