Goodbye, Nick

"Hello, Tony." Alex greeted him dryly, then immediately changed the subject. "Tony, where’s your father? Don’t tell me he’s hiding in some laboratory again, conducting secret research?"

As Alex spoke, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face. But it quickly froze, because he noticed that something was off about Tony’s expression.

"What happened?" Alex frowned deeply, a frighteningly sharp glint flashing in his watery eyes.

The pressure Alex unconsciously gave off was simply not something Tony could withstand. Within a few breaths, Tony was nearly forced to his knees. His face turned deathly pale, and beads of sweat the size of peas seeped out like rain.

"Stop!" Happy, standing beside Tony, was having an equally difficult time. Perhaps out of a desire to protect his boss, Happy suddenly moved, crashing into Alex like a speeding truck.

For a moment, Alex did not even have time to react. Happy slammed into him and sent him staggering several steps back, his imposing aura vanishing at once.

Alex was slightly stunned. He quickly noticed Tony and Happy’s abnormal reactions and said awkwardly, "Sorry, I just…"

"He’s dead!" Tony, having recovered somewhat, abruptly cut in before Alex could finish.

"Dead?!" Alex shuddered all over before finally realizing that thirty years had already passed. Thirty years—a long time, enough for the world’s greatest killer to quietly erase all traces of a person.

Muttering under his breath, Alex’s mind kept recalling everything about Howard. Only then did he suddenly realize that most of his memories of Howard remained in World War II, when Howard Stark had been suave and dashing.

"Yes, dead!" As Alex sank into his memories, Tony’s voice rang out again. Beneath his suddenly calm tone lay pain and sorrow. "A car accident."

"A car accident?!" Alex looked utterly incredulous.

Tony nodded, his face full of bitterness. A great engineer had ultimately died because of a flaw in his own car’s braking system. It was truly speechless.

Alex lowered his head slightly, unable to hide the grief in his pitch-black eyes.

As Tony and Alex fell silent one after another, the atmosphere immediately congealed. Happy, on the other hand, grew anxious, scratching at his head and ears as he fidgeted in place.

"What is it, Happy?" Tony finally noticed Happy and asked with a puzzled expression.

Happy glanced at Alex, raised his hand and tapped his wrist, then explained, "Time’s almost up. Mr. Obadiah Stane is still waiting for us!"

"Then that’s that. Go on ahead," Alex said, coming back to his senses. "I’ll come find you when I have time!"

With that, without waiting for Tony to respond, Alex used Teleportation and left directly.

After leaving Stark Industries, Alex wandered alone through the streets of Manhattan. From Tony’s memories, he had learned more detailed information, but that only made his mood sink further.

As he walked, the sky gradually darkened, and the streetlights along the road lit up one by one.

Alex slowly raised his head and let out a long sigh. Just as he was about to leave, a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Why didn’t you come find me?" The deep voice carried a note of reproach and seemed somewhat angry.

Alex stiffened and turned toward the voice. An awkward smile unconsciously surfaced on his blank face. After a long pause, he finally greeted him, "Long time no see, Nick!"

The newcomer was none other than Nick Fury, a member of the Howling Commandos during World War II, now the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Alex’s brother.

Nick Fury stood in a black leather trench coat in a dark corner, looking even more inconspicuous. Only his one eye gleamed brightly. Upon hearing Alex’s reply, a trace of reminiscence flashed across his dark face. Then he chuckled and replied, "Yeah, thirty years!" He paused again, followed by another long sigh. "Thirty years. You finally showed up!"

"I’m sorry!" Alex did not know what else to say and could only use those words to express the guilt in his heart.

Nick Fury strode out of the darkness. Before Alex could react, he fiercely pulled him into an embrace, unable to contain his excitement any longer. "Why apologize? It’s enough that you’re back!"

Alex stood there blankly for a moment before his stiff hands gradually relaxed.

A few minutes later, Alex and Nick Fury sat side by side in a bar, with quite a few empty bottles laid out before them.

"How many years has it been? The fires of war from back then still feel like yesterday!" Nick Fury tilted back a glass of brandy, then turned to look at the silent Alex. Deep sorrow filled his one eye. "There’s still no news of Steve. Bucky shows up from time to time. Logan really did become Wolverine, but he forgot everything from before."

"What about Natasha?" Alex had roughly learned about these matters from Tony’s memories, so he was not surprised by Nick Fury’s words. He was only slightly dejected. The Howling Commandos of those days were either dead or missing. It was truly lamentable.

Nick Fury downed another glass of brandy, casually refilled Alex’s half-empty glass, and only then explained, "There’s been a problem on the Soviet Union side. Natasha went there to investigate."

Alex nodded and took a small sip of his drink. After remaining silent for a while, he continued, "Do you know where they are?"

They clearly referred to Emma and the other women.

Whether in Otu’s records or Tony’s memories, Alex had found no trace of their current hiding place. In fact, after several conflicts, Emma had taken X-Mansion completely into hiding. Not a single word had leaked out, which was why Alex had delayed going to find them.

"I don’t know!" Nick Fury shook his head without hesitation and explained, "Since that siege, they’ve become much more careful. They wouldn’t easily reveal their hiding place. Even I don’t know."

Alex seemed to have prepared himself for that answer. He was not overly disappointed, merely letting out a bitter sigh as the heaviness in his heart deepened.

"But you don’t need to worry!" Nick Fury looked at Alex and comforted him in a low voice. "I’ll spread the news of your return as soon as possible. I believe they’ll hear about it before long. I imagine they’ll be crazy with happiness."

A faint smile curved Alex’s lips. He took a light breath and slowly said, "I hope so."

"By the way, I haven’t asked yet—what exactly happened all these years?" Halfway through their drinks, Nick Fury finally asked the question.

Alex’s expression grew increasingly bitter. After pondering for a long while, he finally began to explain, "Back then, the Savage Land was on the verge of destruction. I borrowed the power of the Tesseract and wanted to…"